All Night Don't Stop
by Lucky Avalon
Summary: An impossible attack went as unplanned, giving the whole world a new face.  The only one with the answer is...ZACK!
1. Default Chapter

Hot from the press! This story is only four days old, so it hasn't been revised yet. So... I'm posting it here to get some correction feedback. In any case the props, Carmen Sandiego and the ACME Detectives are not my property, but other characters in this story are from my personal library, tell you later who they are. If any one gets offended by the first paragraphs, please urgently tell me so, I'll gladly change the starting lines. Like I said this story just started, it was inspired by the new Janet Jackson video: All nite (don't stop) so the title isn't mine neither. If anyone has a chance of seeing it, many of the clothes, situations and places occur in the story. This is another weird fic, not centered on the show but on the character's lives outside the show. One last thing.... Up to this day, June 20, 04, I have not seen the movie: The Day After Tomorrow. If some of the lines in the story looks like the movie it is just a coincidence and nothing more. Hope for good response, so enjoy!  
  
All night (don't stop)  
  
The beginning of a new millennia is always dramatic, saying that millennias come forecasting disasters, growth, happiness, but most importantly chaos. Chaos is all around us, from the day of our conception to the day we die. We live with it, we love it, we destroy with it. Destruction and hate are its allies, and destruction shall come.  
  
Destruction came along with disaster the day of September 9 of 2001. A day to remember for all time, a day when America cried in unison for the death of their loved ones. The enraged authorities promised to make the ones responsible pay for all this. None knew that the terrorists had planned to make themselves pay, not even they.  
  
On October 24 of 2001 the unthinkable happened, in the most unthinkable place, at the most unthinkable time. Impossible as it might seem, terrorist had been able to purchase jet planes, and at that very same day they were flying over the Atlantic Ocean towards their destiny. A small Caribbean island known in that time as the Enchanting Island of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico. A collection of small isles on its power, and on one of them a powerful military base, Vieques American Military Base. Home to a small collection of nuclear weapons and nuclear bombs. Their objective, blow up that base, what else.  
  
It had been one of the last days of hot summer or autumn if you care to know, Caribbean is an all summer thing. The residents of Vieques, some expert fishermen started to gather their nets, and settle their boats on shore when they overheard planes approaching.  
  
"Que bien otra practica más de esos gringos" exclaimed one fisherman. ("Oh great, another practice by those gringos (American military men)")  
  
"Ojalá que la gobernadora cumpla con su promesa mano de sacarlos pal carajo" his son answered. ("Lets hope the governess fulfill her promise of getting that base out of here")  
  
As they both looked up one of the planes went straight down on one of the camouflaged hangers containing approximately 200 nuclear bombs. The other went straight to other hangers.  
  
"¡Pero que carajo hacen esos cabrones!"(But what the fuck, what are those motherfuckers doing!")  
  
"¡Hijos de puta, nos van a explotar es!"(Son of a bitch, they are going to explode us!")  
  
As I looked into the blue east side of my horizon, where the Yunque mountain range in Puerto Rico is, a cloud rises on the top. I stood up not knowing what that was, the ground beneath me started to tremble. I braced my self when the blinding light engulfed me and then there was pain in my lungs, heart, soul. After just blackness, soothing and peace.  
  
The eras changed, the millennia changed, the waters changed, the climate changed, Planet Earth was no more, it was changed. The nuclear blast changed the face of the world into a new apocalyptic façade. It is worth saying that more than 200 nuclear bombs exploded on a concentrated space, that space is now really a hole on the ocean.  
  
The island of Vieques was no more, the island of Puerto Rico was no more, in fact there were no Caribbean island, nor a Caribbean Sea. Shockwave after shockwave or tremors and earthquakes shock the planet. The circular waves joined in Australia where they exploded in such a way that earth was thrown into space. Lava erupted; Australia spliced in chucks of rock that molded into the lava to from a giant spear on the earth.  
  
The Indian Ocean rose from its coral beads engulfing under water everything in its path. Its first target, the India Subcontinent, overwhelmed by the giant wave and the earthquakes India detached from Asia and sank to the bottom of its own waters. The waves immense monstrosity continued raging its terror on the land as it tore down Tibet and smashed into the Himalayas. She pounded the mountains with such force that the mountains exploded in seconds creating an immense rock barrier from which a new lake aroused inside Mongolia and Russia.  
  
Africa flow of life was now its divisor. Through the Nile River, a huge crack split Africa form Asia, pushing Africa closer to South America. South America in turn creeped downward and at the same time collided with Africa. Now the mighty Atlantic Ocean was just a river between the continents. They were now a swim apart, no one could tell the difference now between them, both were bare of any signs of life. Desserts with a mirage of water to join them.  
  
California finally detached from North America, but the push was so strong that the entire land began shifting westward. California's bedrock was weak on the west side, and the entire state began tilting just like Titanic. California sank to the enraged Pacific Ocean, were waves rose higher than the Rockies. Its tectonic plate abruptly shocked, exploded in the volcanoes of Hawaii, creating and immense and deserted plateau were the islands were.  
  
Florida got submerged when the North American land split in two on the Mississippi. Louisiana was a marshland several feet underwater. The waters creeped furiously up the river sinking other territories. The famous Yellowstone Park erupted in a flowing musk of hot water, minerals and swamp deposits covering the rest of North America in a swamp like, marshland.  
  
Asia's winter land of Russia was overrun by water. Water form the melting Arctic Pole that froze upon the unsuspecting land. The Antarctic Pole was severed in half by the reverberating earthquake shock around the world. Both parts traveled on opposite directions causing water to slip between them forming a new Antarctic Pole. One of the halves crushed Tasmania and New Zealand and collided with the giant spear were Australia used to be. The other grinds the smaller islands of Cape Hope and Madagascar.  
  
The United Kingdom and Scotland got tilted 180 digress, exposing the inner rock surface from were it once stood upon when Greenland crashed into them. Spain and Portugal got detached of the main land, crumbling in the process and forming a new island on the new ocean. Italy's southern part sank into the Mediterranean Sea, and its northern part was hoisted to the heavens, upon which it penetrated into the exosphere and into space. The Dead Sea had a burst of underwater affluence and filled itself, proclaiming its honor as the Dead Sea.  
  
Earth's face had changed, Earth's life had changed, Chaos had won once more. Even though this battle was lost, the war against disaster was not over. Where there is Chaos there are always two factors, the wrong and the right. The right life, the wrong death. There was life in the planet after all. Animal, plants, and even humans had survived after the earthquakes had stopped.  
  
For months the acid rains pounded the new lands and oceans. But life continued, and the continuation was not the one of fairy tales, it was gruesome and merciless. Survival of the fittest, survival at all costs. Survive they did, as animals, plants and human life started to make its presence among the clearing skies, calmed oceans and rivers, and cooling land.  
  
This story is about one of such human gangs that made those responsible for this pay with their own life. This gang of unusual suspects, united by hunger, despair, and chaos of mind and soul, fought Destiny in its own lair. This is the story of how living it all through the night, never stopping for breath, can make redemption on the eyes of the new goddess and god of this planet.  
  
Autum-2006  
  
The misty day was already starting its second half. The murky yellowish, brownish sun was announcing already afternoon. The ruins of the ancient city of Paris were perspiring sweat form underneath its hot surface of broken glass, concrete and history.  
  
He was a lonely male in search for companion on this city. Carefully taking steps and looking all around he proceeded his journey, quietly followed in the shadows by a figure.  
  
"Whew! This autumn sun is horrible here." He exclaimed, taking his free hand and wiping the sweet of his eyes. He had been traveling for long and learned to defend himself. Not scared of anything, he continued on.  
  
Near him a figure with unpredictable moves came closer and closer to him. Unnoticed by the eyes of him, his nose smelled something in the thin air. The circumstances of the world had provoked that humans returned to their early state of animalism. Their senses were keener, their ability to hunt and gather food in packs or alone had improved. Their fights were to the death; their weapons were their teeth, nails, swords, staffs, and the ever- present gun.  
  
He stood for a moment surveying the area.  
  
"Who's there?! Come and get a piece of me if you can or else I'll get a piece of you!" he shouted in mid air. The human race had restarted to cannibalism as well as every other species in the planet. Food was scarce and anything you could kill was food.  
  
Out of the shadows the figure moved so fast the man hadn't time to react. His throat was severed in two and for a moment the man stood motionless contemplating this figure with just one blue eye. The hair was black as the night and so long it reached past the hips. This raged clothed figure had killed him.  
  
"Damn...y...o...u." his last words caused no effect on its killer.  
  
In fact when it came to stalking and killing she was the best of her pack. That is why she was the leader. She was strong, intelligent and merciless when it came to kill.  
  
The man's head fell to the ground and his body fell a little farther than its companion. She had done it again, food for the pack. She was dressed in raged black cargo pant now brown with continued use, a small torn shirt that let her belly exposed, a long sleeve jean jacket with holes on it and brown as well, and a dirty baseball cap.  
  
The sun scorched the land that autumn day. She took off the baseball cap and the strips of a red bandana that covered her brow began to twirl downward. She brushed the sweet of her eyes, replaced the cap on and decided to get to work. Surveying the land she took out some rope that was hanging on her side and with one last look behind her with her blue eyes, she bend down and began to work.  
  
End of Chapter 1 


	2. All Night 2

"Hey guys, come on wake up! The coasts are all clear yall!" a young tall man came running into the cave. It surprised Ivy how much he had grown, from a punky young boy to this handsome man.

"We have a clear horizon to… mooovveee!" he fell face first on some water and splashed the rest of the group. Even though they did not care, their clothes were all ragged up and dirty from all the pollutants in the roads, they gave small friendly punches to the man.

'Yes, indeed he had grown.' Ivy thought as she helped Zack get up. The cave was submerged in laughter by the small band on left over ACME agents. They were sure to be the last remaining and maintained themselves very close.

Ivy and Zack, where spending sometime in the Russian base of the ACME Detective Agency when the chaos erupted. With them were Tatyanna, Jasmine, and Josha. The small band was crossing what was left of Germany into France.

'Well, we indeed are small.' Ivy thought as she began picking up the things and moving out with the others. 'Our we must get to United States, if there is one left and find out Chief. Hope he is ok, what has happened here. We have been traveling for five years and we have gotten lost. I can't even remember anyplace now.' (sigh) 'Looking at Zack and the others has always given me the spirit to go on.' BONK, Zack walked into a nearby post hitting his nose. 'Ha, ha! Nothing changes, Zack always trying to impress Tatyanna always cheers me up.' With that thought in mind Ivy picked up the lead with a smile and walked on.

SCENE 2

"Hello… come in… This is Zack… can anyone hear me… Chief are you there…" only static responded the communicator.

"Zack give it a rest. That communicator has been dead ever since we got separated." Ivy took it out of his hands.

"Every bit of solar energy that gets imputed to the batteries could give us an answer sis." Zack took it back from her hands. "This could at least tell us if we are getting closer to base or even closer to California."

"I'm not breaking your hopes, but… we are nowhere near America still." Josha was checking the device.

"Let the machine rest a while for when we really need it Zack." Jasmine said while lying down. She had fractured her leg that fateful day, but the others where able to heal her. Ever since then she had to rest very often, it still caused pain.

"I'm exhausted, we have been walking for days now with nothing to eat. This is ridiculous, what has happened to us…(sniff)." Tatyanna was very desperate; she had to bury all her family in Russia before departing with her friends and still cried very often. Today was one of those often.

"Calm down girl, we'll make it trough." Zack calmed her giving her a hug, with this commotion, Josha gave them a hug, and Jasmine, and… Ivy heard some footsteps behind her.

"Shhhh… quiet." The footsteps where getting closer. "Someone is coming." She crouched down grabbing her staff from her backpack. Josha took out a sword, Jasmine her bow and arrow, Tatyanna her latigo and Zack his short knives. They had excelled in injuring their opponents and driving them away, but they that knew sooner or later death was paying them a visit.

"DIE!" A man jumped upon Ivy but she delivered a flat blow on the man's neck and he fell unconscious to the floor. Seconds later the group was assaulted by men and women of different ages. Tatyanna's latigo was the cause for mayor pain among the attackers but Jasmine bow and arrows where very difficult to handle at close range and she was the first to get trapped. Zack's short knifes got split in two by one of the attackers massive club and he followed suit into their hands. Josha was very skilled indeed, he managed to cut several of the attackers a total of twelve on the pack. The constant defense splintered Ivy's staff against her attacker's blow. In the end the five of them got captured by the pack.

They were tied by the hands and feet on a straight line and their mouths harnessed with a restraining bow. They moved around and fought to get free but at no expense.

"Lets take this fresh basket of meat to the Regina. This will put us on her good side." Said a male of the pack.

"Yeah man, lately we've been drowning in her constant punishments." A female said in a happy tone. "We are going to have a feast for days to come."

Zack's eyes widen in horror, but Ivy gave him a nudge and calmed him. They were not going to be eaten, and if they were, they were going to poison everybody. After all they had been tagged by THEM.

As soon as Josha got tangle with the group, they set marsh. It was getting late in the night and if by day it ran blood on the streets by night the demons raised from the depth to haunt this mortal plane. So the hunters and hunted gathered below a concave like structure that was once the architectural elements of a railway station. The columns, walls and ceiling now containing a halo space was good to spend the night, but not to make a hideout.

The next morning they started early, trying to reach the Regina's lair by a little over noon. The road wasn't easy to walk being tangled by the feet. The movement was slow as many of our detectives fell on top of the others. This enraged their captures hitting them on the face, stomachs and back with the lasso of Tatyanna.

A little after noon they were all exhausted and thirsty. The sun had taken the spirits of the group even the hunter's one. But at last they were there, the hunters sighted at the sight of their lair. It had no entrance, but its façade gave out a sense of not welcome to strangers. The columns of a renaissance palace had crumbled and the drums crated a maze in the entrance. The architrave looked intact, and so does the triangular ceiling. The door was just a hole on the ground with some steps to guide the descent.

Inside was a huge two-story building nearly intact. Full of dust and debris and human scent, but the marvelous place was ingenious. Huge Corinthian columns supported a grand gallery below the triangular ceiling. The building had not collapsed, it had just sunk.

The smaller galleries at the side acted as the sleeping quarters of probably the families of their hunters. In some there were kids, in others other females and males. In the center nothing, near the end of the center passage some furniture mostly Victorian seats, cushions and sofas. Behind the big Victorian sofa there was a grand staircase that communicated the lower with the upper floor.

There were people sited on the Victorian seats, young and old. Mostly on the mid twenties and early thirties. The top galleries where older people, probably grandfathers and grandmothers survivors of the disaster. All wore ragged clothes, many with jackets for the colder nights.

There was little light and the hall was illuminated by a small number of weak candlesticks. All in all, the grand masterpiece of hideouts. The detectives had been invited to hideouts to spend the night or two in their travels, but this was the grand mama of all. This Regina had class, and possessed a lot of power in these parts. She was notorious even outside France. The detectives had heard of her and now they were going to meet her in person, something Zack was not happy for.

"Look Regina, wanderers. Living out of our territory." One of the tall men from the group shouted. The detectives looked for a reaction form someone, but none came.

"This is a tribute to our goddesses and gods, and most importantly to you Regina!" a woman kneeled in front of the group. The others followed suit, even those around them.

Ivy noted a figure standing up. She had a well toned body, long dark hair past her hips, dirty cargo pants, a short sweater and a jean coat. What struck her most was the expression on the face; the only thing you could see was her nose and mouth. Her eyes where covered by the shadow of her dirty ball cap.

This woman approached the group, if it had been an hallucination Jasmine saw a weak smile on her face. Then one of the men in the hunting party took out a sword and was ready to deliver a final blow to Tatyanna's neck when all of the sudden the Regina took her sword and blasted the mans' sword over to the side.

"No!" she said. Replaced back her sword on her side and extended her hand. "He has the key to save us." Everyone gasped as the mysterious woman pointed at Zack. Zack was paralyzed of fear. "They are… sadly not food." Everyone cursed under their breaths. "STOP THAT!" she shouted turning towards her pack, she commanded a great power over them. "This is not a time to think of your selves, this is the time to think for the future. I don't know about you people but I don't want to stay here for long."

"I want to be free," she continued looking around, her hand on the pommel of the sword. "Free as I was before this. It doesn't matter if I must starve for one more day if it means that I'll be free to eat outside this walls without a care in the world the next day." The pack stayed quiet and bowed to their master. She swung backwards and faced the group. "Take them inside the vault. Bring me the alcohol. Quick!"

The vault was were the Regina's pack dismembered their food and prepared them. Not a great view thought Tatyanna. Josha crept closer when the mysterious woman made them all sat down and expose their right knee. Ivy knew about this, below the knee is where THEM tagged all the remaining humans with electronic tracking devices to know where they were. The only thing Ivy did not knew was how to take it off even though it hurt a lot to put the tag in.

The mysterious woman approached them.

"They are tagged," examining Zack's right leg. The men gasped in horror. Zack gasped as he saw the woman's knife come out, she grabbed his leg firmly and inserted the knife a little below the knee. Zack screamed in pain but at last the woman took out a metallic piece out of the flesh still red with blood and threw it in the fire behind them.

This procedure was repeated in all of them and later bandaged with alcohol and straps. She was very good at this Jasmine and Josha noted. When the last of them had been properly treated the mysterious woman sat on the floor in front of them and smiled a little. This caused the group to feel a little insecure. They thought this woman, even her delicate taste of furniture, was crazy and a lunatic.

She looked at Ivy then at Zack, and gave out a little laugh.

"I though you guys were dead, but my heart told me you weren't. Now you come like form the heavens." She smiled even more. "I'm glad you guys are ok. It is nice to see familiar faces, and faces that can help in the quest for revenge."

"I'm sorry but who are you? What is this place? Where are we?" Ivy said getting a little closer to her.

"Wow! Have I changed a lot?" the woman began examining herself. There was something familiar in the voice, the detectives noted. She laughed a little more and took her baseball cap off. Her head covered in a red bandana, some strands of hair falling from the entanglement, her blue eyes where unmistakably the final clue.

"I'm just an old friend, or foe if you want to be more specific. Or is it you have forgotten me."

"CARMEN SANDIEGO!" they all cried in unison. The world's greatest thief smiled back at them that day, a day to remember as well.

End of Chapter 2


	3. Knowing Friend chap 3

Again hot from the press, I thought this chap was a little long so I'll try to edit it sometime. I welcome feedback also suggestions on what to cut out.

Chapter 3

"Wow! And I thought I hadn't changed that much." Carmen joked. The group was taken aback by this event; here they were facing their worst foe. But instead of feeling hate, they felt so much at home, so safe, so cared for, feelings they had forgotten.

Ivy was the first to break the spell; she flung herself towards the woman, giving her a much needed hug. The others followed soon. Carmen was a little shock at this; she expected some smiles, laughter, some hand shacking, but definitely not this. She waited a little, consoling them before they broke apart.

"It's really you!" Tatyanna looking closely at her.

"Sorry, but without the red it was a little difficult," Jasmine said still holding her hand.

"Yeah, spooky in a way," Zack assured.

"To tell you the truth, it was a little difficult recognizing you guys." Carmen stood up replacing the ball cap over her head. "You are not little kids anymore."

"This is great Car…," Josha's mouth was covered with Carmen's hand. She beckoned them for silence. Carmen turned around and ordered the guards to close the door and to beckon her Commandants to the chapel. When the guards were gone she signaled the detectives to follow her.

The tunnel was spliced and light slipped past them, but as their clothes were raged, the shadows played a neat camouflage on them. Finally at a gated place, she opened the doors and signaled them to walk inside. Again this was a two story, buried building smaller than the other none the less. It was lit the same way, and the upper chamber was subdivided with rags, definitely were Carmen and her Commandants slept. The small center room had a big table and some seats, the walls had maps of the newly built Earth. Very detailed maps, Ivy noticed. As far as the giant pillars was land, but… were was Africa? The next thing was an incredible ocean, oceans to the west… were was Spain? Some new islands and a new United Kingdom looking spot. That caught her attention until she heard the doors close.

"So, how do you like it? It isn't as grand as the one I used to have, but it has the essentials," Carmen pointed out to the maps.

"It sure is informative," Tatyanna was looking at a map that contained what was left of Russia and Asia.

"Why can't I say your name?" Josha was intrigued.

"Only people that come here know who I really am. The rest only know me as Regina. It's a little strange, but people are scared not dumb you know."

"And why is that?"

"If they knew I once was the greatest thief in the world, they wouldn't be here. They would probably have killed me." Carmen was taking one of the maps and putting it on the table when the doors opened again. Six people came into view and entered the room. Two women, four men. As they approached one of the women halted and gave a gasp. The other followed her gaze and opened their mouths.

"They are alive, it was true what Carmen told us." Nothing less than Sara Bellum, the crazy professor, was taking her cowboy hat off.

"Oh great, now we will have to behave again," Moe walked towards the detectives and extended his hand. Jasmine gladly shook it.

Both groups salutated each other and started to talk as if nothing was wrong, but Carmen was getting a little impatient. She tapped the table with her nails and everyone stopped. Sitting there in half light, with only her smile visible and clad in dark clothes, she was very intimidating. Silently everyone sat down around the table, and remained quiet. Carmen liked that kind of submission, but this was not the time and place to gorge herself.

"Tell us your journey," Carmen looked at Ivy, or that is what Ivy thought.

"Well," Ivy looked at each of her friend with sadness, but Zack smiled at her and she started to tell their story. "It started a week before the blast. Zack and I were in Russia to inaugurate a new facility for the Agency. As well as Josha and Jasmine, who came here to get medals during the award ceremony given in the new facilities…

SCENE 3

"The facilities are awesome," Zack was drinking punch while looking around at all the new technology at ACME's disposition.

"Yeah, everything is what the new technology can offer," Josha was starting to explain, along with Zack, to… no one, only themselves talking.

"Don't you think those guys think they are way too much," Jasmine was teasing Ivy.

"Well, they are not all that useless, remember… he flushes the toilet at home."

"Ha, ha… ," Tatyanna couldn't stop laughing. "But… toilets flush themselves… Ha, Ha!"

The girls wept from all their laughter. The boys looked awfully confused by this, but continued with their discussions. Until… Zack felt his hand tremble. Josha was going to ask him what was wrong when his hand also started to shake. They both turned around to look at the stunned girls. All was shacking… all was moving… all was falling… dieing … destroying… losing… all was chaos.

A loud explosion was heard from outside and the earth jumped, tossing all of them around like dolls. The building started to collapse as the detective scrambled out. People, friends were crushed under tons of debris, the people outside were being sucked into the earth as it cracked open. The detectives couldn't stand on their legs for long, the earth was shacking vigorously as if it was changing its form.

Suddenly mist was showering over them. Wondering were all this dampness came they continued to run avoiding the commotion. Little did they knew that mist came from when the Indian Ocean erupted the Himalayas in the south of Russia. The world as they knew it was disappearing under their feet.

The detectives ran and ran avoiding falling debris, trying to help others but couldn't until… everything stopped. The detectives looked around for the first time in what looked like hours. Not a single building lay standing, people were lying everywhere, some with missing limbs others lay dead. But at last the earth stopped moving, suddenly clouds covered the skies and a cold chill swept the land.

"Let's gather everyone alive we can find and head for some cover," Ivy shouted over the thunders that were rolling over them.

They gathered many living families, children, mothers and fathers, grandpa's and ma's, even other ACME detectives under the remains of their new building that only had a flat ceiling with some cave-in of debris standing up. Months passed as they tried to survive when helicopters were heard overhead. Zack was the first to go out then everyone else poured out. Shouting and signaling to the helicopters they were sure that rescue was on the way. But Ivy and Jasmine weren't sure, Jasmine had a broken leg and Ivy volunteered to stay alongside here while the others went outside.

Surely enough the helicopters came down, but… screams, bullets, crying… was the only thing Ivy and Jasmine heard. Zack came back yanking Tatyanna and Josha behind him. Others came running in but the doors were blocked with what looked like mutants to Ivy. Creatures taller than an average man stood under the doorway. It was half machine and half human, or was it the other way around… in any case he was brandishing a pierce like gun. Alongside him other metal like humans appeared porting the same gunish object.

Without warning another group of this "metalumans" (Zack always making things up) came from behind shooting at the innocent people and the others started to grab others and tagging them with their freakish guns on the legs. Josha and Tatyanna leaped to action with their new found abilities to defend others, Ivy ordered Zack to fend out for Jasmine while she kicked some butt on the other side. But they were soon over powered as more metalumans came form now were and captured them.

The metalumans didn't kill them like the rest of the group, they were tagged with painful chips in their knees. Other survivors were also tagged and left unharmed. What surprised some is that as soon as they came, they were gone. The killed were taken with the metalumans and the helicopters were soon gone. Those left behind just looked at the bloody scare on their knees and wondered what THEM was! Slowly but surely half the group decided to go south from where the helicopters had gone, others decided to stick with the ACME detectives and try to reach America.

The groups divided eventually, others died from infections and diseases, others were taken away by the metalumans in a series of raids that involved killing some and tagging those that where still free. Soon only the ACME detectives were left alone in their search for Chief and their homes. And just like that the years passed…

SCENE 4

"Until we recognized something that looked like French writing and assumed we were in France," Ivy finished. "From Russia to France walking in 4 years… how small are we."

"Fascinating," Sara said. "So only the tagged ones got captured, that isn't unusual, the same thing has happed here and to my group."

"As well as ours," Moe signaled to his knee. "We were tagged as well, but we were let free. Our group was completely exterminated. Paige, Hugo and I stole from others to keep our group alive, but eventually they got captured. We often outsmarted those…um… metalumans. Oh well Carmen trained us well enough to survive on our own. Until when we got ourselves in a pickle and these guys came to our rescue." Moe was signaling to Carmen and the rest of his gang. Surely this experience had made them all a big family with bonds stronger than those of loyalty to a leader.

"Surely enough, but what are they doing with those captured?" Sara asked. "I mean my group was demolished and almost entirely captured if it weren't that Carmen and Mike came along and helped us defeat them. Too many have been marked and others killed, but on none of our scouts I've seen a camp or a base or even what those… metalumans are."

At the mention of Mike the detectives looked astonished… who in hell was Mike. They never knew of any accomplice of Carmen named Mike nor of anyone close to her with that name. At this Mike started to get a little indomitable. He had gotten himself in a mess that… he didn't want to leave. At this situation Carmen intervened, she was getting a little blushed at the thought of what all this people were thinking about the situation.

"He is… my guardian," she couldn't believe she had said that, but in truth that is what he was.

"Your guardian?" the ACME detective cried in unison.

"Hell, look he appointed himself that, I didn't obligated him!"

"But at that time I though you were a defenseless woman," Mike intervened.

"Defenseless, where did you lived on the moon. Didn't the outfit gave you a clue?"

"I though you worked at a bar or something."

"Argh…," Carmen slammed her fist on the table. "And the bunch of policemen trying to catch me, saying: 'Stop, Carmen Sandiego, you are under arrest!' weren't a clue either."

"Oh well, there is so much cos-play right now you don't know for… agggg!," Carmen smacked his head.

"Unbelievable, of all the people in this world that could end up helping me would be a nib wit like you."

"Is that the thanks I get for saving your life."

"I didn't needed saving," Carmen stood up. "I was perfectly fine, and you just came on and started to menace the police men with an antique sword you obviously stole from a museum in all the commotion. Shouted saying prostitution wasn't a crime in France and that they would pay for hurting me. Were you drunk or something?"

"I was a little drunk, but my intentions were clear I mean… Twelve police men had their guns pointing directly at you, what was I going to do?"

"Nothing, go away. I even shouted at you to do so…"

"It was a good deed from a gentleman…"

"My ass… you are an idiot…."

"This idiot saved that ass…"

"Can't stand you and your arrogance…"

"Your uptightness is creeping me out…"

"SHUT UUUUUPPPPPPP!" Everyone, ACME and VILE shouted in unison. Carmen and Mike shut up from the surprise and looked in shock for a moment.

"Shesh, are they always like that?" Tatyanna asked.

"Always," Paige, Moe and Lars answered together.

"Look Carmen, he saved your life, there was no way you could get out of that one with all the commotion going around," Sara said looking at her. "And Mike… you are an idiot that doesn't know when to quit."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better," Mike was a little confused from the logic Sara was using.

"That's how you know how much we appreciate you," Carmen looked at him, but couldn't suppress a smile. Hugo started to laugh and they all ended laughing with him.

"In any case, what's the world greatest thief has been doing all this time," Jasmine said massaging her leg. "I mean what is there left to steal?" Everyone laughed at this, even Mike who the others had gotten used to the silly faces he made. He and Paige were among the most comedian of the party.

"There is something left for me to steal," Carmen said with a dry note. The others stopped chatting and hold their breaths, undoubtfully this something was what Carmen meant when she said Zack was their savior, but Ivy kept quiet.

"But first, a little background story about this last thing and about what I've been doing to find out this. Care for another flash back…"


	4. Carmen's Travel chap 4

Again hot from the press! OMG! This story is becoming a mammoth, it's my fault I didn't controlled it at the time… arrrggghhh! Not really, I'm trying to advance the story as much as I can, won't be as long as my first one (Heir to VILE). Zack also is a key character but bear with me for a little more with this background art since every clue of Zack's leadership will be revealed. Oops I said too much! Onward! I welcome feedback also suggestions on what to cut out.

Chapter 4

"This background is going to be concentrated on key info on my investigation so there is not much personal on it, OK!" Carmen stared at them, but only her dry smile was visible.

"It all started that fateful day, I had sent Sara and Lars near the French-Spanish frontier near Toulouse to triangulate a signal code towards me at Monaco. Paige, Hugo and Moe were in Paris getting the code from its secure facilities. All was going well, surprisingly well until I spotted some robots patrolling the skies going south-east towards Italy…"

"Robots!, isn't that far fetched… even for you Carmen," Zack was already interested it the story.

"I too thought it was my imagination, but no, there they were five robots like objects flying to Italy. I tried to get my inner cat on control, but… curiosity killed the cat. I forgot about the triangulation of the signal and started to hack myself into the robot's signal.

Turns out they weren't robots at all. Humans just like us were inside those machines, I supposed they were some sort of new high tec flying choppers. In any case, I stopped a little to record their conversation, but nothing interesting was happening, my anger started to rise, I lost my position just for this when…

"Is everything installed yet?" A familiar voice came on the speaker.

"Yes boss, the planes must be over by the target now ready to plunge," One man said, obviously the captain.

"Great, soon they all would belong to THEM. Ha… ha…ha…. When the plan is completed return to the base for instructions. Remember from now on your lives will depend on the people you bring to me. You no longer have the ability to keep alive by yourselves, you need human being as energy."

"Of course we know that boss, ha… this is a small price to pay for all this power you have given us."

"Let the show begin…" the receiver went quiet, only a building of static was heard

"What in all the nine hells was that," Carmen had to take the earphones out, the static was way too loud. "I hadn't received any message from the Underworld regarding this operation. No leader even mentioned this. Conquer, Raven, Palazzo… no none of them could keep that secret from me, I mean… they would have at least ask me to do some underground work. Who could…"

"Boss Lady, was the code effective…" Lars was asking over the receivers static.

'Darn it, I missed the signal…'

"No… I haven't received it yet," 'Stupid, Stupid Carmen, you are too old for this little problems now.' Carmen thought this last bit.

"Ok, I'll send it again…if….what….it's.. going…. Spreading….. Ocean is … coming…. In…..HELP…" the static started to built up again.

"Sara… Lars what is wrong with those two…," Carmen switched on to Paige's group. "Paige can you hear me?"

"Mountains….. England is becoming mountains….. Carmen…." Paige's signal became static.

"I'll have to pay more psychiatric bills for her," Carmen decided to proceed without any of them to the interior of the building. It was dark and for some strange reason getting a little noisy. As master conquered yet another place, she heard the sirens go off.

'What, impossible, there is nothing wrong with…'

"Stop it Carmen, we saw you on the building before. You are under arrest!" Policemen came running to her.

'You'd think after ten years of chasing me they would come up with some better lines than that. Maybe that is why they haven't caught me yet. I can't afford more stupid lines like that in my life… Paige and Sara are all I need. Also those two, Moe and Lars… always get my anger to rise to unprecedented levels…' Carmen though as she ran.

Those humorous thoughts came to a stand when she felt the floor jolting her upwards. The policemen were scattering and Carmen was running on top of what she thought was gelatin. Running outside, she couldn't stop herself from falling every minute. Everything was shacking, buildings were collapsing in front of her. People were getting killed by falling trees and power lines. The subway channels collapsed as well as the sewage pipes marking the roads with huge holes.

In the sky she could see a metal object just floating up… was it possible… it was one of those robot like things. What is it doing there?... and Why is it looking at me? It was true the robot was looking at her, what she didn't know is that there were three more looking for DANGEROUS subjects at that same moment. One was over Paige, Hugo and Moe, the other was on Sara and Lars, and finally the other was over the ACME detectives.

Carmen was so distracted looking at the metal object she didn't register the police general commanding her to put the object down and put her hands over her head. She came to be when the robot pulled away and her instincts told her to follow it, but she came across the police men holding guns at her.

After getting myself out of that problem, I looked for this robot…."

"Hey, you cut the part out of when we met," Mike looked a little sad at this.

"Look that is not important right now…although I'd like to know how to get rid of you."

"Come one, I've been helpful."

"Yeah, giving me a hernia."

"You aren't a peach either."

"What is THAT supposed to mean?"

"That you behave like a spoiled brat."

"WHAT YOU…"

"STOP….." every one else.

"Tell us everything as it was Carmen," Ivy was smiling a little.

"Yeah, or would you like Mike to tell us that part?" Zack got into the little game Ivy and he used to play while teasing others.

"NO…. he has twisted versions of those moments and…" she was cut off by Mike words.

"It was a beautiful time, I was drinking something nice at a bar, looking at the wonderful women in little red clothes…"

"Creep," Carmen said.

"I went outside when the alarm went off, the police said that the great Carmen Sandiego was stealing something in the museum in front. So obviously, being a great fan of her works, I went for a look as I'm a crook my self…

"Panty thief," Carmen said, some snickered at this remark.

"Ejem… The next thing I noticed was a huge breeze and when I looked up there was a helicopter looking thing looking down on a beautiful defenseless woman in red. She was surrounded by police men pointing guns at her. I took a sword from the antique shop next door, my experience in stealing is great…"

"Shouted inside and ran like a cow out," Carmen said.

"When the earth started shacking more and I tripped and landed facing up at the robot it had been hit by a falling cellular antenna. From it, dropped a mini CD that I picked up but didn't paid attention, my attention was on saving her, to become a hero…"

"Bullshit," Carmen said.

"Oh please warrior please save me eekkk….." Mike said in a girly voice.

"WHAT… IT WAS NOT LIKE THAT…," Carmen backed his chair and he fell flat on his bottom. This caused a roar of laughter among the group.

"Those two have made all of us laugh and be happy for as long as we can remember. Their fights are legendary but they liven the ambience in the hideout," Moe told the ACME detectives. "They fight a lot, but working as a team they are invincible. I mean they alone created this place."

"Ok, ok…, I was surrounded by policemen and I was about to give up, in all this commotion I could lead them in a sense of false security and when one came for me I could dodge him and make my escape using him as a distraction. When all of a sudden this guy come yelling brandishing a sword and the police men scattered not knowing what was going on. 'Are you nuts, stranger?' I asked him. He came towards me and said 'Run away I'll keep them entertained' but at that moment a bullet came at him and I pushed him down with me. We made our escape in all the commotion running down the street…"

"I landed on top of her and I saw the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen and … aaaaahhhh," Carmen tripped Mike again.

"As I was saying! We continued running with the policemen following us, not exactly Carmen like but I can live with it under the situation. The roads where collapsing and light post tried to kill us in every corner. I heard some policemen screaming something that caught my attention, I looked up and … there it was.. That mechanical robot helicopter thing soaring above me. He veered southbound and I don't know why but I followed it. The police men stopped chasing us, but… someone was beside me… It was this guy. I stopped a little to take a break and relocate the flying object.

"What were you thinking," I said to him.

"Helping someone in need."

"I wasn't in need…." He looked a little hurt though. "But… thanks, stranger." He smiled at me. 'Great another fan!'

"My name is Mike. I saw that mechanical thing looking at you. Know what it is?"

"No, but I'll find out." I broke into a stroll, but he shouted at me.

"Wait….!" He just looked at me.

"For what…?" I had spotted the object landing on a hill when….

VRRROOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM…

…

…

In the last minutes of all the commotion the worst came to happen. I turned around and looked at the Italian-French Border going up unto the sky. I took some steps backwards and came to a halt near Mike. We were both stunned by this event. Italy's northern most land was going into the skies. So great was this massive chunk of earth that from France you could see its mounstrouosity.

Italy continued to rise up with a roar as oxygen, nitrogen and atmospheric gasses came in contact with the earth. The temperatures froze and heated the land as it crossed through the atmospheric layers and chunks of it disintegrated and fell hard down. Water spewed upwards and cooled the earth beneath it hardening it until everything went quiet.

We couldn't hear anything, silence consumed the earth for a moment then.

!

I felt Mike covering me and we both got to our knees waiting for God knows what. After that, everything had settled. Fires and screams everywhere, but the earth wasn't trembling anymore.

"What happened?" Mike got up and looked at the giant pillar.

"I have no idea." I looked at the pillar as well, it was… was… too much for my pair of eyes to see. Then we heard some mechanical noises and people screaming. I grabbed his hand and made him follow me. If my intuition was correct, the people in the helicopter wouldn't expect humans to go near the pillar, which I deducted from the conversation I overheard. But… damn….

Those things were everywhere, killing and tagging people. We managed to save a few and hide them while the carnage continued. It continued like that for days until the remaining few were tagged and ran away. The.. metalumans were gone and their helicopters went straight to the giant pillar.

"There is were I'm going, good luck with them." I told Mike, but he hold my arm.

"What, oh no… you aren't going alone there I mean, what about our team?"

"Team… I work alone, please don't bother me anymore." I set out.

"Oh come on, look I even got this CD from one of those guys." Mike showed me this.

"You are a genius," I must admit it, he was good in some sense. I disposed of some of my clothes and went to work looking for some computer to work this out. My answer lay in a wrecked computer store among laptops. We stay up all night, burning laptop after laptop battery on that CD.

This is what we discovered. There is someone in a base at the Pillar once Italy that has created a way to maximize humans mixing them with computers. Machines need maneuverability that only humans could give and humans wanted more power, faster speeds, and incredible vision. That is why many humans have half machines stuck to them… but there is one fault… since they lack human essences their limbs don't last long and they must be replaced. They are tagging all humans in order to know where they are. The free humans will reproduce making us a replaceable resource. Since then, they rule the new ports, and all the commerce that has survived until now.

They are called THEM or Technologically Hybrid Electrical Men. They are lead by a high tec computer hybrid much like… oh well that is for later.

That much we could verify since it was in code, and I couldn't break much of it. After that we decided to stick together, now that the rest of the group we saved were calling us leaders. I named myself Regina and started to rule and fight against these raiding metalumans. Our group is invincible and we are masters of this land. After some years, my plans on destroying THEM my radio picked a signal…

"Rabbits are so beautiful don't you think Hugo," Paige's absent minded voice came on.

"Yes, but I don't think that is a rabbit."

"Paige, Hugo, where are you," I screamed into the radio. "It's me Carmen."

What a happy day that was, we moved our group north, well away from the pillar and saved Paige and the others a couple of weeks later. Months passed and Sara joined us during a raid north of Lyon. It was in Lyon that we settled and it is were we are now…

Carmen stopped her story and the detectives were pondering on the THEM idea. Ivy had seen those helicopters as well, but she knew little of what was going on.

"And we are still together," Mike hugged Carmen and she kicked him near his groin. Everyone laughed as those two continued arguing their brains out.

"OK OOOOOKKKKK!" Carmen said with both hands covering her ears. "Look, well go to sleep and rest for a while until tomorrow. Now we have to attend the festive at the hall and commune with our people."

Like that it was decided, have something to eat, see some plays the kids put up for Regina, and rest until tomorrow.

But Ivy was restless, Carmen had kept the boss' name secrete and what has Zack got to do with all of this. She was awake in the second story of Carmen's sleeping place when her mouth was covered by a hand. The struggling Ivy opened her eyes to came face to face with those of Carmen. Ivy relaxed and got up.

"Carm…"

"Shh.. come with me."

Ivy followed Carmen out of the building and headed to a small hill on the back side. Someone was there already, to Ivy's surprise it was Mike.

"There is more to the story than that," Carmen stood alongside Mike. Ivy went silent and agreed to listen to them


	5. The Man behind Chap 5

Extra Hot and Extra Crispy!! Wow, a full year without update! Sorry, thesis is keeping me away most of the time. But, never the less here is the next chapter, enjoy. I welcome feedback also suggestions on what to cut out.

Chapter 5

"During the next few hours I will relate a story in full detail to you, Ivy. After it, you will hate me more than you have ever hated me before," Carmen said while having her back towards Ivy. "During this time I will ask not to judge anything I tell you using your feelings, I need you to only use your brain."

Ivy was getting tense, this tone of seriousness was the Carmen she remembered, that was the Carmen she hated. Mike was pacing in a half circle surrounding them both; clearly, he was what Carmen said, her guardian. Ivy laughed internally at the thought of Carmen trying to evade him and he fallowing her still. 'Interesting, someone can really catch her.'

"Is everything absolutely clear in that?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Good, let's continue." Carmen was now facing Ivy and looking squarely into her eyes. Surprisingly enough Carmen took of the baseball cap and for the first time in hours, Ivy saw her blue eyes, both of them actually. Ivy had never seen Carmen's complete face before, and what she saw impressed her.

"You already heard the stories and can understand the idea of those matalumans. Half man, half machine, always in look for fresh human body parts in order to replace the ones that rot. Thus, they have the need to tag human beings for easier tracking and location. Hunting and killing the ones they need." Carmen said all this looking straight at her. Ivy nodded.

"What you kneed to know is who they are, why are they doing this, who is their leader and how can we stop this," Carmen signaled to Ivy to sit down under the tree. Carmen sat with her back to the tree while Mike sat beside her facing away to give them privacy but protecting them against anything that moved. "And of course, what does all this has to do with Zack." Carmen noted a slightly stern look cross Ivy's eyes, but she passed it off as a sibling feeling.

"Very well, the first thing you need to know is: THEM, Technologically Hybrid Electrical Men. They are the creation of scientist Malorn J. Heasel, a Nobel Prize nominee never winner. He made a thesis on the co-existence of human beings with technology." When hearing this name Ivy thought she had heard it before, but couldn't remember where. "His investigations on cyborgs and metalumans were worldwide known and discussed as a fascinating yet macabre idea. Even thought his investigation acclaimed him high status among his fellows, he became bitter for the lack of interest and funding placed for his thesis.

"Never the less, he turned to the underworld, doing research and even experimenting with people until he had all the right components to proceed. However, with each experiment he always came to the same conclusion, this was not a one-man controlled job. He needed a high tech AI system that worked in unison with the human brain in order to control the computers.

"Under his knowledge, his attempts at creating this AI failed miserably. He decided to look elsewhere, if he could not create it himself, he would have to build it from an existing successful AI system.

"In a so fated anniversary celebration for ACME Detective Agency, Dr. Malorn Heasel made a short presentation of his thesis to the detectives and police community. The police community as a great way to combat crime accepted his ideals. It was there that Heasel came to know the Chief. Heasel was so fascinated by this modern AI system that he kept Zack under his attention at all times." Ivy now remembered who he was. She never liked Heasel and kept whispering Zack not to tell him more information about Chief.

"Heasel got all the information he needed out of Zack with the help of that neat presentation ACME produced of their famous cases. One of those cases was one of my own making. Remember the time you and Zack entered my training base and you came face to face with my military version of Chief?" Ivy laughed quietly nodding at the memory of that franchisee Chief.

"There was the model exhibition of your creation on the convention floor we rented," Ivy said, realizing later where Carmen was going with this.

"Well, let's just say Heasel was not a good and honest person. He somehow managed to steal a copy of the software used for the creation of both of Chief and Mili Chief. With that information he created his own independent AI technology to use for his machines."

"So, we need to find Heasel and force him to stop this. Heasel is in The Pillars, right?" Ivy was already planning her moves and the idea of the defense they would be doing.

"Heasel is dead," Mike said looking away at the full-mooned sky.

"What?" Ivy looked at him, then at Carmen with astonishment. Ivy noted that the fierce look in Carmen's eyes faded, Carmen looked at Mike, who was facing the horizon, and placed her shin on the man's shoulder for a few minutes without saying a word. Ivy taken aback by the sudden emotion Carmen showed and at Mike's acceptance of this sat quietly admiring the silent couple. 'Clearly those two have lived through more in just a few years than what they had already lived.'

"We killed him," Carmen at last said, detaching from Mike's shoulders and stretching herself up. "We came to the same conclusion and decided to take on the job. At the time, we were with the people we saved and called us leaders. After explaining them the plan, all of them wanted to help in one way or the other. Therefore, we set forth to The Pillar. The trip was not easy and we nearly lost half of the group only getting to The Pillar. A group of 43, men and women came to rest with at the bottom of the structure only to face near annihilation climbing The Pillar.

"For weeks we climbed Ivy, little oxygen, little food, little water and little warmth reduced our group to 27. Many had established camps, and were left there to wait and assist others. It looked hopeless at the time, I'll admit it, I have never cried so much in my life during those days. And I had never been consoled that much in my life." Carmen said this looking a little down and towards where Mike is.

"And I have never been heard and cared so much in mine," Mike said looking towards the heavy tree branches up. Ivy's heart thumped like crazy at these reactions, and only looked down giving them time to gather their thoughts.

"It is believed among the survivors and the myths about our quest that we climbed higher than Mt. Everest. At last one winter afternoon we came upon a scientific base high over the ceiling of the earth. Healer's base camp and home was on a huge plateau on The Pillar. The Pillar kept going into the atmosphere, obviously Healer couldn't go upwards no more given his human existence.

"To our surprise, the base had only 5 guards. Only 5 metalumans guarding and helping him. Easy job for us, the 23 that remained, but not as easy as we thought. The incredible strength, agility and speed of those cyborgs are amazing. Such maneuvers surprised many of us, killing some of us, but we managed to immobilize them. We let them on the floor to rot inside the frozen base and turned our attention to Heasel. He was defenseless, and didn't try to attack us as we approached. When we asked to revert what he had done, he simply said: 'He has taken control, I am useless. I can do nothing.'

"With those words he attacked me with a sharp knife he took out of his pocket. I dodged him grabbing his armless arm and swinging it backwards. Catching the armed hand on my free one, I turned it towards him and… Mike pressed it against his heart.

"Nobody moved… nobody said anything. It was the first time any of us had actually killed someone else. The next few hours we were immobile, trying to figure out what happened and what to do.

"After the initial reality check, we came about to business, finding information about who Heasel had named as his master. The answer came fast to our eyes. While looking through Heasel's computer files a familiar yet strange image appeared. As I started to Print Screen it, the whole base collapsed, or… how do I explain it. The base started to slide down The Pillar.

"The velocity with which it traveled made us stopped more than 3 leagues away from the base. Even with the little information we acquired I informed the group that we couldn't do much to this AI system." Carmen took out a small paper and handed it to Ivy.

Ivy couldn't believe what she was seeing. There in hard black ink appeared the familiar and beloved face she came to love as much as she loved own father.

"We are fighting… Chief!" Ivy let out a tear. Carmen gave the young woman some time to straighten her thoughts. "How, why, and when did he became like this?"

"Probably some time after the celebration. Did anything strange happen to him that you remember?"

"He was in some bad mood and he had some mood swings that are irrelevant to the situation he was addressing. Zack was constantly engaging with his system to fix things up." Ivy stopped cold when the realization of where all this was going. Carmen had already explained who, why, when and how these events came to be. All that was left was to explain how Zack came into the picture, and Ivy was starting to figure it all out.

"Zack… Zack is so amazing in his doings." Carmen said with her eyes half closed acknowledging Ivy's mental discovery.

"Zack is the only one that knows Chiefs primal codes. Zack knows what binaries are needed for Chief to work and compute. Zack is his creator and is his potential destroyer." Ivy said looking straight into Carmen's eyes. "That is why those helicopter robots where upon us, cause we all know about the Chief and Zack. You, your group and the ACME detectives. That is also the reason for the massive human tracking; if he knew where we were and with which people we acquainted, he could keep save upon his dominion.

"That is why you need Zack. You need him to finish the job; you need him to kill Chief. And the only way to do this is… is… oh my god." Ivy started to cry. Carmen and Mike didn't move, and allowed her to gain control of her emotions.

"He will…," Carmen also shocked on the words. "He could certainly die in the process."

Several minutes passed, Ivy in incontrollable anguish. She never believed the day would come when she must send her own brother to his own death. She gain composure yet still gasped for breath.

"It is a suicide mission." Ivy spilled those words with anger. "How can you ask me to do this?"

"I'm not asking you to do this. I am telling you, you need to do this." Carmen rose to her full height and stared down at her. Ivy felt compelled at the sight of her, such strength was undeniably Carmen. Ivy was feeling so submissive that she said nothing. "It is your choice alone. I have waited all this time of a sign of you guys to relate the bases for this quest. Even though I know everything that needs to be done and know everything that will and can happen, it is not in my power to relate it to someone that is not of my blood.

"I declared all the truth only to you because he is your blood. He is your reason for existing and he is your reason for strength. It is in your hands to delegate this reality on him or to negate reality for the rest of the world." Carmen started to walk back into the hideout. Mike started to get up but didn't move from his spot.

"If you decide to tell him his destiny, we are right behind you with everything we've got. Even our lives," Ivy got up and looked at her. "And if you decide to not tell him his destiny, we are right behind you with everything we've got. Even our lives, because that is what we are all fighting for." Carmen signaled them to come inside the chapel. When Ivy came close to her, she placed her arm over Ivy's shoulders and moved her a little.

"I really don't care what you decide. I have enough with trying to keep my people alive and myself as well. You are obligated of course to stay with us here in my lair." Ivy looked at Carmen's eyes. "After all, you guys are the only family I have." And with a smile on her face, Carmen started to walk into the Chapel with Ivy under her arm. Mike fallowing faithfully behind; never leaving sight of his protégée or of her own protégée.

Ivy didn't slept at all that night. She noticed that neither Carmen nor Mike. By early sunrise, those two were perched at the topmost window, talking in whispers into one another's ears. Sometimes laughing and sometimes just acting plain freaky. Ivy had too much on her mind to even care what those two were doing or undoing. The though of sending her little brother to his death, even worse, asking her beloved brother to die for them was too much to ask of her. She couldn't do it. Not now, not ever, tell him what she had heard, to anyone for that matter.

Carmen and Mike went onto business early morning, reading the hunting parties, giving out instructions and sending out messages to frontiersmen that came about. Life continued inside the Regina's lair as if nothing important was happening on the world outside. They quickly became acquainted with there surroundings, their tasks and the people of the Regina's tribe. For their surprise, Carmen's ruler ship was funkier than what they had imagined it would be. Practical jokes and subliminal phrases where Carmen's favorite, everyone were working happy and content under her administration. The trainings, hunting, assemblies and even theatrical scenes where all done in good humor, and great amusement and expertise by those that made them.

Carmen was a woman indeed of hidden talents; disgracefully Mike was nearly always the end of them. The once enemies, detectives and thieves, had become the strongest bonded family in the history of this new world. A family where all the members where equal, even Carmen submitted to the leadership of others when they had the reason and knowledge to know what they were doing.

Everything was fine, but every once in a while, the thought of destiny crept into Ivy's mind. She decided to put a stop to that feeling one beautiful early winter day. Her first order of business: Address a retaliation assembly.

End of Chapter 5


	6. Hear our call chap6

Wow! It has been long, my apologies. I will make it up to you readers with the next installments of the story. One quick note, on one of the review it was stated that Zack is not Chief creator, it translated wrong and my apologies. What it must be interpreted is that Zack knows how Chief was created and knows to extend everything to maintain Chief working, sorry 'bout that.

Now, on to the real deal, hope you like it. (Snicker an evil laugh)

Oh, yes.. BTW. It will start getting darker the story, I have had to suppress some bad words, but just to let you know, the story merits them even though I can't put them in.

Chapter 6

"Beautiful winter morning, don't you think?" Mike exhaled while looking over the white expanse of snow and rock in the horizon.

"Yes it is," Carmen was beside him, comfortable with the warmth she felt being under Mike's arms.

"You feel too relaxed for all the knowledge your brain has of today's events."

"That is because I have waited for today for a long time." Carmen smiled back at him.

Waited. Patiently waiting. Feverishly anticipated. This day was the revelation day everyone in the Regina's lair expected for a long time. Little did Ivy knew about the fact of how much her words were going to affect the pack, and less how much greatness she was about to convey.

The whole pack was gathered in the central gallery of the Regina's Lair, even those from outside the lair itself. Everyone had heard the news of the reunion and many other packs gathered around for the speech. To say that hundreds of people gathered for this event is one of the greatest achievements this new reality has seen. Tales about this event will be passed along generations and recorded in the new history books for this new Earth.

Ivy stood on the middle rest of the grand stair in the gallery looking over her audience. The front rows were occupied by her ACME family, fallowed by close friends they had made up within Regina's Pack. Carmen's commanders where on the side steps of the stair maintaining order among the fellow gatherers. Carmen and Mike appeared on the second floor left hand balcony overlooking Ivy. As soon as Ivy saw Carmen she felt a strange calming sensation, she had come to love Carmen as the greatest friend she could have in the weeks she has been in the Lair. However, the audience at the site of the Regina quieted down and kneeled in reverence. Carmen totally liked this.

Ivy didn't knew how to start her speech, however she knew how to end it. She couldn't start with, Good day or.. ladies and gentlemen. So she went straight to the point.

"This is a call for Retaliation" Ivy said out loud.

A roar of enthusiasm swept in the Lair, cries of approval, of desire, of truth were heard. Ivy hadn't expected such an acceptance of her call, but she felt calmer by this fact. Carmen was applauding and her friends where cheering for her. Everyone in the Lair knew about the retaliation, but it really rested on her hands the decision, and they all were behind her now.

Ivy raised her head high and exclaimed, "You all have waited long enough for this call. You have suffered and cried at the hands of THEM. Now it's the time for our liberation.

We have suffered long enough for errors committed by others and for the insanity plans of others that only seek destruction. We seek revenge…

Not from tyranny or oppression...

We seek revenge for something much more important that was taken from us… OUR LIVES!!

We call for live, we bleed for it, we want freedom to LIVE IT!!

Raise your voices into the night with me,

WE SHALL MARCH WITH THE NIGHT,

WE SHALL NEVER STOP,

WE SHALL BE FREE

WE SHALL LIVE!!

An expanding chorus of cheers and applauds filled the night, humans roaring with the thrill of live once again.

"We are behind you with our lives" "We will fight to the end with you" "We will go on into the night for them." "What is the plan?"

At that last question she froze somewhat. Ivy had her speech but didn't know about what to do. Ivy looked at Carmen with confused eyes and Carmen understood. Carmen started to move towards Ivy, as she started to say something Carmen interrupted her.

"You all will listen to me now." Carmen's voice thundered in the Lair and everyone listened carefully to Carmen's story.

Carmen related the story of who, what and why the metalhumans existed. She filled everyone on all the details except specifying who was behind them, Chief. Everyone had their eyes and ears towards her in a reverence manner that only betrayed their respect and love for their leader. Many knew some things; others were shocked at hearing this for the first time. In the end, this story made their convictions permanent, it cemented the Retaliation Call Ivy had made, it made them all stronger.

Carmen finally finished her story and half-made up plan by late night. People felt secured at their leader's manners of planning and conducting the raid. Everyone started to clean up and move to their places to prepare when a man in his mid forties asked out loud:

"Who will get the final blow on the culprits head? Who is this person that has done this? You never revealed that fact to us" He had his hand on the pummel of his short sword and stood straight up looking at the Regina.

Carmen savored this small moments of open confront; it gave her a chance to still prove she was top dog here. She stopped Mike and Hugo, as they had started to go down stairs. She slowly made her way down and walked straight to the man. Her head was down and her hands where collected on her back. The people around them started to back up and leave the way clean for their Regina, many started trembling cause even with her innocent stance they knew she was deadly. In the weeks the ACME detective had been under her eye they had seen many faces of Carmen. She was ruthless with enemies often killing them herself in front of many. Her punishments were severe and her knowledge of everything that happened around her was top notch. Nothing escaped her mind, and she always knew what will happen next. That is why she could never be captured, though Ivy, she is just too dangerous by herself.

Carmen stopped a few feet from the man. He trembled at the sight of the Regina's presence in front of him, but he stood his ground. The Regina slowly turned her head up to look straight at his eyes. The man could only see part of her blue eye and started to sweat.

"That is for me to know. That is for me to kill. Who do you think you are to overtake this from me?"

"No one, I'm sorry Regina." The man said lowering his head. Big mistake. Don't lower your head once you confront your leader, it only portrays weakness and leaders hate weakness.

The Regina only took the pommel of her sword and hit the man straight in the lowered jaw sending him flying backwards so fast no one saw it coming. He clenched his jaw with his hand and prayed this was his only punishment, a broken jaw is no joke around here, it means you can't eat and if you can't eat you're eaten.

In his relief Carmen looked around at the fear in her people's eyes. She wanted to make clear she was not abandoning them that she will make those that had done this pay for everything. She wanted them to trust her and believe she could save them. She did something she had never done; she extended her hand towards the man. The man still puzzled looked at it, but as reason downed on him he took it. The Regina had helped the man to stand up. She looked at him once more and he held her gaze. She smiled at him and he lowered his head in reverence.

"I will finish my job, Jacob." She said this to him and made sure everyone in the Lair heard it clearly. "I will finish what I started. I promised you all many years ago I will find a way out as I always do and had done before. If I have kept the secret of exactly who is responsible is because it is my job to finish it. It is my job because of all of you, because I care for all of you." Her eyes rested on Ivy now, then on Zack. "Please, let me keep my promise to you, let me finish this job for you guys, let me be your leader for one last time and set you all free."

"I'm at your service my Regina," Jacob said with a mouth full of blood and kneeled, as did everyone else. Carmen only heard cries of affection and emotions expressed. She really loved this people.

As the Regina went up the stairs, everyone yelled for her. Cheered her on and praised her name. A standing ovation she received and affections yelling just for her and only for her.

"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you got turned on right now." Mike whispered in her ear as she came by him.

"Shut up," She whispered back with a smile. "Or you won't get to quench it."

As she passed Ivy she signaled her to fallow to the tower. Ivy prompted the ACME detectives to fallow and as they left the Lair was filled with music and the smell of food. The detectives were a bit sad as they were going to miss the party but deep down inside they felt that what was going to happen in the Tower was going to be more important than anything they had experienced so far. None was more worried than Zack, as he couldn't understand why did Carmen centered her sight on him back there, and worse yet, why did she looked at Ivy too. He wanted to ask Ivy, he wanted to be close to his sister, but in the past days she was evading him and that hurt his heart far more than anything.

Back at the tower, everyone settled around the round conference table in the first floor. Silently as ever they all waited patiently for what was about to come. Ivy couldn't start the reunion, she thought she had the strength to tell what the mission was about but at the look of Zack she just couldn't. Carmen noted this and sighted, she got up and went to the back wall where a scroll of paper was rolled up. She normally untied the strings taking her time as she didn't knew exactly what was going to happened, this is the only thing she feared, not knowing.

She finally took the knot out, and sighted. 'Oh well, what is the worse thing that can happen?... Nothing really.' With this realization she felt more confident and let the scroll roll down.

Tatyanna retched at what she saw, Jasmine was beside her and prevented her from falling. Josha slammed his fist on the table and got up. Zack was shocked in place. Ivy just looked down on her dirty shoes. Carmen's commanders knew about who they were fighting, and even though they didn't care about it, they felt sorry for the youngsters.

The image of Chief, of lovable Chief, was unrolled. The picture contained the image of Chief inside what looked like a military base surrounded by and army of Metalumans.

"This is our enemy." Carmen said looking directly at Zack. Zack was petrified in place and didn't quite grasp reality until he felt Carmen's gaze upon him. He slowly turned his eyes to meet her and she was about to say something Ivy interrupted her.

"Chief is the A.I system that has taken control of the leadership of the Metalumans. He has been corrupted by that psycho doctor and lost control of his senses."

"It… it can't be sis," Zack started to curl his fingers in desperation.

Ivy related the story Carmen told her that night under the tree, except the kinky parts going on between Carmen and Mike. She told Zack about the franchee Chief they had in exhibition at the presentation, told him about that crazy professor that asked him questions. Even was bold enough to start suggesting the importance Zack played in this event by telling him straight to the face that he knew how to repair Chief as Zack was the only one that had ever direct access to Chief binary codes. Ivy's eyes started to swell at one point, her voice broke at others, but she maintained her composure. The other detectives were beginning to realize exactly what Ivy was telling Zack and they all stared darkly at Carmen. Carmen only stared back at them and placed the most severe face she had to muster. This is not fair, they thought.

Death was always part of Zack's fears, but somehow it eluded his thoughts that moment. Ivy noted that Zack hadn't grasped exactly what she had been telling him, she grasped him by his arms and shock him.

"You have to kill Chief. You are the only one that knows how to kill him." Ivy's eyes won over her mind, and tears flowed down her cheek.

Moments passed that seamed like years to Zack. His mind had indeed registered what his sister had been trying to tell him. He knew what this all meant, it even meant his own death at one point in the end. He just didn't want to be there at the moment. 'I must kill Chief; he is like a father to me. I can't kill my own father, let alone him. Even if it means… oh, god,… it means the life of everyone. Ivy, Tatyanna, my mother even my real father… But I just can't. I'm afraid of death, of risking my life for death.' All of this things were in his mind and blocked everything else that his friends where telling him.

He detached the hands of his sister from his arms and slowly got up. Ivy stepped aside and let him pass. Zack stopped in front of Chief's face and examined it. Carmen was still on the side of the picture holding the strings that tied it up. She was playing with it and resting her back on the wall. Zack thought this as funny; he had never understood how Carmen deals with this sort of situations daily. 'She must have felt this same way when she left ACME. How can I betray my father for doing what I felt was right? What was right about stealing? I must ask her this one day.'

Carmen said very silently, so only he could hear, "Nothing that can happen is worse. Just enjoy life's ride" They both maintained their attitudes, Carmen playfully resting on the wall and Zack strongly erected in front of the picture.

Ivy started to say something but he extender her hand and beckoned silence. He had to think, he had to know, he had to understand, he had to life. This mission required precision and control, Carmen's forte. This mission required knowledge and tech expertise, Sara's forte. This mission required strength, Mike's and Hugo's forte. This mission required accuracy and flexibility, Josha and Tatyanna. This mission required mobility and performance, Ivy. This mission required direction and overview, Moe and Jasmine. This mission required supply and assemblies, Paige and Lars. Only thing missing was the requirement to finish… sadly, Himself.

Up until that point he had never had to decide something so important in his life. He relied on Ivy and his friends for decisions. Now he must face his age in the most crucial way. Up until now, Ivy and his friends had gotten him out of trouble, how can he decide to end up in a mess without knowing how to get out of it alive. 'Get out of it?' At this thought he remembered Carmen's speech some few minutes back. "I will finish what I started. I promised you all many years ago I will find a way out as I always do and had done before. If I have kept the secret of exactly who is responsible is because it is my job to finish it. It is my job because of all of you, because I care for all of you." 'Cleaver message, she was telling me she found a way out as she always do, because she is the queen of thieves. That is why you were looking at me, Carmen.' As he thought this his head tilted towards Carmen. Carmen's' only visible eye was half lit by the candles, but she had a small smile on her face. Zack had never respected Carmen as much as Ivy had, but at that moment Carmen's became Zack's family. She was his family. His heart stopped hurting a little bit and he sighted.

He looked up and stretched his neck. Then he stretched his arms and body. Finally, he stretched his legs and let out a long drawn yawn of relieve.

"Teach me how to steal Carmen." Zack said this looking straight at Carmen, and they both smiled.

"No one ever caught her, sis," He turned around and smiled at Ivy. This realization relaxed her mind; it was true Carmen will never let Zack get caught if she taught him. "You can only catch Carmen if she wants you to catch her." He faced them all. Suddenly everyone's hearts was happier, they didn't hurt anymore because they knew what he was saying was the truth. "Just like what happened to you Mike." He started to laugh and look back at Carmen, she was blushed and shocked at what he said. Mike was shocked too, and everyone laughed at this so hard that it echoed in history.

End of Chapter 6

Omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, I got pumped on this story again, I will try to release chapters faster now. Reviews are welcomed.


	7. In the Winter's Day chap 7

See, see. Told you guys I will update soon. Zack finally is the protagonist, sorry it took long. Then again… I like couples so… please, still mind my C&M affection.

Chapter 7

"Just one condition," Zack expressed getting a little serious. Carmen was a bit mad at him but nodded.

"I want to try and save him first. If I can't, I'll kill him."

"Understood, I'll send my scouts to search in this forgotten land for every laptop with a usable battery. I'll have the borders patrolled and scouted. Sara already have some at her disposal, you are free to use the resources as you need. We will prepare all winter for this and strike in spring."

The new constructed family celebrated Zack's decision and kept talking about plans and their abilities all night in preparation for the months to come. Zack and Sara went on to business and Ivy admired the man that was her brother with loving eyes. How proud she was of him.

"Now everyone knows we are lovers," Mike said in Carmen's ears, he knew she liked to get whispers. They had gone up to their quarters for a bit of relaxed alone time after the comment Zack said earlier.

"How embarrassing to be mixed with your kind of low thief," she teased him while leaning against the wall that surrounded their bed.

"In any case, I knew you liked me, I mean, I'm such a handsome man and that is why you let me catch you."

"I let you catch me because I needed a distraction and a focus at the same time. I needed to use someone as a shield and use him for my benefit in order to escape." She started to slide from the wall to the bed and looked out the window near her pillow. Mike started kissing her neck while his hands explored other reaches of her body when they were interrupted by Ivy. At the site of them she stopped, she knew that she had interrupted something important going on and blushed. Ivy didn't remember the last time Josha touched her like that.

"Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say, Thanks Carmen. I don't know what would have happened if we had never met, I… thank you so much," Ivy smiled and happiness bloomed in her eyes.

"Your welcome, is the least I can do for my family," Carmen smiled back. "Now if you'll excuse us, I'm getting caught." Ivy blushed and quickly got down to the party.

"We need to find a tower for ourselves," Mike said amused.

"The tower wouldn't be able to handle us alone," Carmen snickered.

SCENE 2

Winters in this new era were harsh. Nothing but wind and snow moved outside during this time of the year where once the Earth was filled with songs and festivities. The little food that the packs could gather had to last them all season. Many didn't survive and they in turn became food source for the rest. There was, however, something different this winter, something that made this nightmare more pleasing to some. But to someone in particular, it was like hell.

"WERE ARE THEY!" a strong and menacing voice was heard over the audience.

"The individuals were last spotted in France my lord, but their transition chips were destroyed before we could confirm their exact location." The answer came from a thin but strangely tall human-like being that shivered in the wind of the base. "The destruction of the chips is not accidental. They were manually removed and destroyed expediently. We believe they have come in contact with her." The man tensed saying this because his leader looked at him directly in the eyes. Nonetheless, he continued his report, he had to anyways. "It is not confirmed they have come in contact, however, but they made contact with a group that does know how to destroy the chips. That knowledge is only out there because of her raid to the Doctor years ago. So we presume that they might actually meet. Sir, report finished." He saluted as he has done before and waited patiently for his leader repercussions.

The leader's sigh was long and loud. His distress at the ineptitude of his subjects was eating his insides, if he had insides. He had given them only one task, one simple task and they failed it. They were still only mere humans.

"And can I ask, why weren't they closely fallowed like I ordered?"

"Their course was taking them east just a few days from the vigilance radius of one of our station camps. We retreated, waiting for them to pass the marker and let the soldiers from the camp look into them. The sensors have never picked up any human activity within the area and we assumed they will travel alone until then."

"You imbecile human" the leader shouted and immediately shot a bolt of electricity from a security gun on a wall at his captain. "She is everywhere!" The soldier fell flat against the floor with a dismembered mechanical arm.

"I know what she is capable of because I WAS WITH HER ALL THOSE YEARS!" Chief's unmistakable face turned red with anger on his blue screen. "AND THAT BOY HAS THE KEY TO MY DISTRUCTION. DON'T YOU GET IT!" Chief turned towards his captains.

"IF HE DESTROYS ME, ALL OF YOU WILL DIE WITH ME. YOU ARE PART OF MY MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, YOU ALL BELONG TO ME AND YOU MUST OBEY ME OR I WILL ELIMINATE YOU MYSELF." Bolts of electricity shoot from guns towards them, hurting many and paralyzing others.

"I have no remorse in doing so. I can create thousands more like you and better yet, I can create upgrades from you." He turned his blue screen away from them contemplating the panorama he could see from his base. Something deep inside of him had never considered the possibility of killing his foes. He wanted them close enough for spying, but never dead. But she had crossed the line, and he is now with her.

"I will abort your mission Captain Moorey."

"Please sir, give me another chance. I will find them." Moorey was carrying the mechanical arm.

"I SAID ABORT YOUR MISSION, CAPTAIN!"

"Yes, my leader." Moorey knelt waiting for the final blow from his leader that would end his life.

"I have a new mission for you," Chief said this in a dry way, but Moorey's spirit lifted a bit, he wasn't going to die.

"Your mission: Search and Kill," Chief said in a low tone. "I want the heads of Sandiego, VILE and ACME on stakes outside my window so I can spy them myself for eternity."

Moorey smiled at this new mission. "It will be done, my leader," and quickly exited the suit of Chief.

"LEAVE ME ALONE ALL OF YOU!" His captains retired and went on directing the base. Chief continued contemplating his view. He smiled at the though of having his old friends back at his view, even if it were only their heads.

SCENE 3

"Brrrr." …

"Bbbrrrrrrrrr." …

"BBBBRRRRRRRRR."

"Stop it Zack," Ivy threw a snowball at Zack. "Please be serious. Play times are over, we must continue practicing your defenses."

"I know Iv, but come on, a little fun is always good. Relax." Zack prepared himself for another session with Ivy.

"He has improved," Tatyanna said to Jasmine. Both girls were on an outcropping watching the siblings practice and keeping an eye on the horizon.

"Are you ok with this?" Jasmine asked Tatyanna. She had wanted to ask her this for sometime now, but couldn't find the right moment to. The first weeks of winter after the Retaliation Call had been busy. The Regina's plan called for some very specific articles and demanded some specific skill from people at their disposal. Everyone in the Lair had a job, and for the most part they were all doing it great.

The Regina's plan consisted more on defense than offence. If there was offence it must be done quick and precise. Many individuals were in charge of creating diversions and standing ground while the main force continued up the spire. The only ones that didn't had to work were infants, everyone else had something to do. Regina liked the ambition mustered in every ones heart for this vengeance. Everything had to be close to perfect for her to approve and of course for the good of the mission. This war was not going to be easy, not because they were somewhat starved or nearly dead, but they were going to fight non-human things.

Carmen directed here and there, over there and over here. Day and night all through winter they prepared. Each day her people grew more confident in the plan and started to taste the freedom in their horizon. Carmen's main focus was Zack's training in her area of expertise. She refused to tell him all her secrets, but she had been teaching him everything she knew about not getting caught, about how to stealth your presence, about how to commit illegal entries. Zack now admired Carmen, how can someone like her exist in this world. Zack became the Lair's thief. Carmen commanded him on interesting missions through out the Lair to test his skills. He had been getting good, but Carmen always found out mistakes. This was beginning to take a toll on Zack, but he notched it away, he knew that he couldn't out master her.

"I'm Ok with the Retaliation Call," Tatyanna sighed. "What I'm a bit confused is why learn from Carmen. I mean… why must Zack learn how to steal? It just don't' make sense that after all this years that we all have kept our word in being agents of law, he turns his back on it."

"Well, from what I know the ways of the thief keeps him safe while the ways of the cop keeps him on the edge."

"I know that… its just… why must Zack go himself? Why can't it be the other way around?"

"You mean, why can't Zack teach Carmen the way to safe/kill Chief and she does the rest?"

"Yes, why can't she go herself? It's true we are under oppression, its true we are slaves, its true we are in a society that crumbled with this Earth. But look around you Jas. Look what this entire people have done and what are they doing. Don't tell me we don't have the potential to raise a new Earth by ourselves far from the Pillar on the other side and live our lives in peace." Tatyanna pointed out at the massive defensive structures and the mass of people working on supplies, food and training on the camp below them.

The girls both sat silently for a while admiring the ingenuity of human beings. They indeed had potential of accomplishing great things in a short time. They hear some footsteps approaching them and turned to look to their backs. Josha and strangely enough Moe came towards them.

"Hello girls, ready for your break," Josha said sitting next to Tatyanna watching Ivy with hungry eyes. Moe stayed standing up overlooking the horizon.

"You have no idea how much we want to get out of this frosty wind," Jasmine threw him some snow and he laughed at this. Few moments of relax time were felt in this regimen, and when they come everyone enjoyed them. Both girls got up and started walking towards the Lair, they had nightly jobs to start getting ready for.

"Actually, I understand why it isn't the other way around Taty," Jasmine started to say as they approached the Lair's entrance. "If we didn't do what we are special in doing, if we gave up and let others do for ourselves what we can do, if we just hang our arms and wait for others, we would be no different from THEM."

"How come? I just want everyone to be safe, fighting is not the solution always. Fighting is the reason we all ended up here."

"They fought, we survived. Don't you get it Taty, what differentiates humans from machines is that we human beings can do things without asking for help, while those machines need help for doing things. We are superior in every way possible and if we don't stop them, we will become like them. We have so much going on for us that we can't afford to loose what little we have gained. Look at Carmen and Mike, they lost who they were but found each other, and they are fighting to not lose again. We are fighting for what we still have and have found again. Taty, we have love, intellect and potential for being humans, for returning to who we were. Please Taty, don't lose hope, believe in what we, ourselves by ourselves can do for ourselves." Jasmine wanted so much to change Tatyanna's lost expression that loomed over the girls face.

Tatyanna didn't like to admit that what Jasmine was saying was the truth. She was so proud of the man Zack had become, but she didn't' wanted to loose anyone else close to her life. Especially now that Zack had decided to find a quarters all for themselves inside Carmen's tower. She was afraid of loosing her lover. She contemplated the horizon and saw Ivy shouting at Josha. Ivy and Josha had gone steady way before they came to the Lair and they both lived happy despite their unknown future. Moe had begun to hit on Jasmine but only when she was alone, he was afraid of the ACME detectives and Jasmine teased him about it. Jasmine also had a lover and she wanted to continue even though she was afraid as well. Hugo and Paige were married by the time they came to the Lair and they both relished fighting alongside each other. Sara and Lars had a strange relationship, they were neither together nor far apart, it was funny to see the brilliant scientist battle it out with the low quality thief, and they still wanted to get their hands on the action.

Lastly there was Carmen and Mike, the epitome of love in this new era. Two completely dissimilar and at the same time equal people that found love in the most unexpecting way. Everything was unexpected between the two. You could never know if they were mad at each other or they were just teasing. Fighting, kissing, shouting, whispering, laughing and crying at intervals that were impossible to comprehend. They were so mixed in each other that Tatyanna couldn't even imagine how can either one of them could recover if the other one was lost. How can they be so serine in gambling with their love in this manner?

"Aren't you afraid?" Tatyanna finally asked.

"Of course I'm afraid, its natural," Jasmine smiled back at her. "But I'm more afraid of never expressing my love out in the open. Look at them, secretly in love, the torture of not being able to express it is killing them slowly. Don't you feel the same?"

Tatyanna reflected on this for a moment. She concluded that being able to love was better than being afraid to love.

"Promise me you will look out for him when the time comes."

"With my life," Jasmine said hugging Tatyanna as they both started going into the Lairs entrance.

Today was a day for sentiments to be expressed. Today was a day to relax indeed. Today was a day for families to do things together and to create stronger bonds between them. Few times like this one came around, and fewer will come in the next months.

This was one of the few times Ivy and Zack had to improve their skills.

"Stop throwing snowballs, AAAHHHHH!" Ivy launched snow with her foot at Zack, and they started laughing and playing like little kids. The siblings battled on until the twilight.

End of chapter 7

Uff… Chief as bad $$ = the win! I will have to rewrite some notes about the story's next issues. I wasn't counting on writing about Chief until much later and I didn't count on the evilness of portraying Chief as a murderer. This changes some things and I'm asking the muse for some big help here. Don't fret, I'll update as soon as I fix the events for this adventure.


	8. March Forward chap 8

So, while watching the movie 2012 and seeing practically half of what I wrote on the disaster portrayed on a huge screen I got the vibes to keep writing this. It was amazing to see some of the disaster I wrote back in 2004 be on a huge screen, wow… I'm not that crazy yo!

Chapter 8

It was a long winter; the snow storms pounded the earth nearly every week and some of the supplies were starting to be rationed. Water for cleaning and bathing was the first to be rationed, fallowed by dried meat. Some dried fruits were starting to be rationed, but luckily winter was at the end of its season.

The activity at the Ret Lair (Retaliation Camp/Regina's Lair) was near completion. The Regina was proud of the entire advance and the whole effort on behalf of everyone even outsiders that joined the movement. The defense system was complete; the attack system was nearly finished and everything in a little time will be ready to test. Carmen wanted to test everything herself, everything must be nearly perfect and she wanted to know what kind of surprises could occur so she could have some time to modify the strat. Only thing that bothered here is that, while she had supervised and approved everything, no real life test had been performed. Her Lair was so well protected that nothing mayor to test the equipment had appeared, or so she thought.

Just a mile away Captain Moorey had stationed his men and was marveled at the sight of such artillery at the hands of normal humans. He couldn't believe that such a camp existed without their knowledge, then again he still couldn't spot the location of the Lair itself. He only saw the defense artillery and the attack artillery, but the rest of the functions were hidden from site. 'What a clever woman that Carmen is. No wonder the Boss wanted her found.' Thought Moorey while looking through his advanced spyglass.

"This is more that what we bargained for Captain." Leut. Swatson came over with his site report.

"Where is your sense of adventure Swatson. This will be the most fun we have ever had since the start of the war." Some of the men smiled and others snickered at the anticipated massacre that will occur. All of them desired war.

SCENE 2

"I hate this eastern scouting, why can't we have west scouting, you know, low hills, plains… but no, we have the steep hills and no plains route." The voice belonged to a fatty looking man in his mid 40s with a very long mustache and heavy bearded covered face.

"Think about this as an exercise for your big belly old friend." This voice belonged to the most fat of the 2 men.

"You and your exercises, I mean, when have they done you any good?" Both men laughed and nudged each other. Until they came atop of one of the hills and saw THEM.

The Metalumans stopped their march forward at the site of the 2 lonely men. Stunned both groups by the incredibility of the situation, they couldn't even think of what to do next. Both men reacted faster and started running away towards the camp, and it was then that the Metalumans reacted and started the pursuit.

"NO" Captain Moorey shouted. "Let them go."

"But Captain, they'll warn the rest and prepare for the invasion."

"That is what I want Swatson. I want to see what their artillery is capable of. I want to see their faces when this petty army is crushed little by little by our forces." Moorey started smiling widely and his men got very excited with the words coming from his mouth. "I want to see how their spirits diminish when they realize they are nothing but scum. I want to see anguish, despair and fear once again in the face of humans. I want to see how fragile I was before becoming this. I want to never regret becoming this. Lets march men, lets march and kill."

"YYAAHH!"

SCENE 3

"THEY ARE COMING!"

"A WHOLE ARMY OF THEM!"

"GET INSIDE! GET INSIDE!"

"What is all that yelling?" The Regina was inspecting the last of the attack artillery when the commotion started. Both scouts had returned panting and sweating in the winter's chill to the Lair. Many where gathering around the scouts, others that heard the warning started running towards the inside of the Lair, Carmen appeared in a few seconds.

"What is the meaning of this?" she was evidently alarmed. "Scouts, report what you saw!"

"My lady Regina, out there near a mile away from the Lair, we encountered an army of THEM. They are marching our way my lady," the scouts kneeled trembling. Everyone around them panicked. Women started to cry and men to shout in anger and despair. People were getting their children into the Lair, men and women scattered and started to bring weapons and objects of necessity inside. Everyone was working diligently but alarmed, everyone except her.

Both scouts looked up at their leader, she was smiling. The scouts had never seen their leader smile at this close range and they feared that smile more than ever. She started to chuckle a little, then she started a small laugh. The scouts got on their feet and people around her stopped what they were doing and watched their leader. By the time the ACME and VILE family came to her, Carmen was in full assaulted laughter.

"What is so funny about a Metaluman invasion?" Ivy went to her and stood with her face near that of Carmen. "Have you finally snapped?"

"PREPARE FOR WAR, MY FRIENDS. Prepare for the start of destiny." Carmen said this looking directly at Ivy's eyes. Carmen let Ivy frozen on her feet and stood on top of some weapon crates.

"Hear me out, hear one of my last speeches to all of you my friends. Hear me with passion and glory." Everyone stopped what they were doing; people in the Lair came out to hear what their brave leader had to say. "The enemy is right upon us, the enemy has come to kill us all. But this time, we are prepared. We have been preparing for war and war has come. Why are you all afraid? What is there to be afraid of?" She took a vast look at everyone's faces, some still had despair, others had stern looks. "Didn't we prepared all winter to never hide again? What have we been doing all this nights? WE HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT SURVIVE AND STRIVE! LIVING AND BREATHING FOR THE MOMENT OF OUR LIBERATION. FEELING THE SPIRIT OF TIME IN OUR HANDS AND MAKING IT WORK FOR US AND FOR US ALONE. WE ARE PREPARED TO FIGHT AND THEY COME TO FIGHT. LET'S GIVE THEM A FIGHT THAT THEY WILL NOT REMEMBER, CAUSE WE WILL KILL THEM ALL." Men on the outer edge started to prepare without any more warning, others fallowed suit, at the site of this Carmen laughed into the early night sky. Her laugh reached the sensitive ears of Captain Moorey in the distance. He swallowed hard a bit, and dismissed that sick feeling of lost that overcame his heart and mind at that moment. 'She wants us to fight. This is not good, she thinks she can win. Can they?'

"MY FRIENDS, MY FAMILY WE ARE OUT OF TIME. LET'S TEST OUR CREATIONS ON THEM. LET'S SEE WHO ARE THE ONESTHAT SURVIVE THIS TIME AGAIN." A roar of approval overcame the crowd as they prepared for battle. Carmen stepped down onto the arms of Mike and kissed him in public for the first time ever. ACME and VILE whistled and applauded and readied themselves for the fight of their lives.

SCENE 4

In the early hours of the night the Metalumans came across the plain where the Ret Lair's artillery stared. Every one of them prepared for battle. At the other side of the defense barrier the humans stood serene. Every one of them prepared for battle too.

Captain Mooray took steps forward and positioned himself in the center of the defense barrier. He surveyed the land for some sign of her and him. Finding none he thought it will be cool to lure them out and kill them both with a single shot.

"What is this futile attept at stopping us? Don't you think it is better to surrender to us and let them continue living their pathetic lives?"

No one said a word, no one moved.

"A defense barrier, attack artillery, and thousands of souls, all of this to defend only two people? What a waste of human life."

No one moved, no one said a word.

Moorey was getting impatient, he raised his right arm to give a signal and just as he was bringing it down he hear a loud noise from behind. His two snipers had fallen to the ground with electromagnetic arrows on their heads.

"What is the meaning of this?" He snarled at Swatson as a chill rolled down his metallic spine.

"Not what you expected from a beautiful woman in red, don't ya think Moorey!"

"Who said that?" Moorey screamed into the night.

"Over there, my captain." Swatson signaled to a high stand some space away from the defense barrier.

Sitting down with her legs crosses, with a crossbow on her lap, her hair tied with a red bandana swinging in the chilly night breeze, she looked like a goddess of war. She hadn't changed at all since the last time they had faced each other. Last time he was lucky to have escaped her attack. Last time he was at a disadvantage, the Doctors base was too high for his new condition to work well. Even though that he charged at her, she deflected all his attacks and he was loosing. 'Not bad for a beautiful woman in red, my lady. How about we face each other again when I'm prepared? That way I can manhandle you better and give you the raping of your life' 'How about not' she pulled the elevator lever and he fell down the shaft into the pits. That woman was too clever for his understanding and with that little trick she just pulled off, he knew he had to be careful. Things don't seem to be the same when she is involved, so he had heard from other captains that came back, if they came back, from encounters with her.

"Well, well, well… I wondered where you were. You should be glad to see me though." Moorey managed a small snicker.

"Oh why is that," Carmen took another arrow from her pile and started to charge it. "Don't tell me you still have the hots for me." She placed the arrow on the crossbow but didn't pointed it at him, but just to his side.

"Ha ha ha! So you do remember," Moorey crossed his hands. "Then you are lucky, here is a man that keeps his promise to you my sweet lady. I promised I'll be back to give you the raping of your life. Hope you have shaved wouldn't want to mess the spanking I'll give your ass first just to warm you up." THUD. Moorey was shocked, he hadn't seen her aimed nor shoot the arrow, but her crossbow was empty.

"That failed." Moorey started to sweat; he hadn't sweated in a long time.

"I never fail, you were the one distracted by pleasurable mental images."

Swatson had taken the blow in his heart. His electrical system was failing fast and he only managed to grab his captain's arms as he fell to the floor. Moorey respected this man, respected his knowledge and planning senses. Rage clouded Moorey's mind, rage like no other. His fellow metalumans reacted to this kill by engaging their weapons to the humans.

"YOU WANT WAR. ITS WAR YOU'LL GET, *****! KILL THEM ALL!" Moorey signaled his men to start the attack.

The humans waited for the right moment. There defense barrier was designed stronger that what was coming to them right now, so everyone's confidence rose somewhat. The Metalumans were already on top of the barrier, but no one moved.

As soon as the first of them came to the crest Regina gave the signal. Mike casually just turned the switch on and zapped all the Metalumans on the defensive barrier with electro-magnetic field. The Metalumans fell over the barrier unmoving and not functioning. Those behind stood well away from the force field created by the barrier. The soft hum gave away the amazing power of the defensive system created by the mere humans.

"Now, pick their guns." Carmen said this still sitting cross-legged on the stand. She smiled at Moorey. "Give them a taste of their own medicine." She stood up as her army started to fire at the Metalumans. Still looking at Moorey, she moved her lips in a fashion he knew too well. 'How about no.' Carmen's arrow rushed past him, she wanted a showdown with him. Moorey looked at his right hand man shot down by Carmen's arrow and just managed to think. 'Well, at least I'll die by a human hand and not by a machine.' He unsheathed his gun and signaled his men to fight.

And fight they did all through the night, not stopping for once.

SCENE 5

The blasting was to and from. Metal splintered and clashed with electricity. Flesh was burned and torn from limbs. Strangely enough they were all falling on one side of the barrier.

"We are holding back my lady. No casualties have been reported in all this hours. A few of us are hurt, some badly but we will survive." One of Camen's appointed Captains reported her.

"We are prepared. March forward Captain, lets finish this off. I have a date with an ex-boyfriend." Carmen's laughter could be heard by Moorey on the far field, where he could only dodge the attack artillery of these mere humans.

"They are killing us all, my Captain. Shall we retreat and come back with reinforcements?" One of Moorey soldiers came to him with a torn arm.

"We won't leave, as we will not be coming back." He said to the few soldiers left. "If we leave we will die, if we stay we will die. It is a no win situation we are living my companions. It was an honor fighting with all of you. Now, don't let them see anguish, despair and fear that is characteristic of our human side. Let then see eternal glory IN OUR EYES.!" With the last of their army, they charged for one last time.

There bodies met the vibrant barrier and disintegrated in a puff of metal smoke and limbs. Others where dismantled by fired artillery and yet others were just pulverized by the amazing combination of fire and barrier at the same time.

Only Moorey was left, no legs and just one arm on his metallic body. He laid on the soft snow looking at the sky. He heard the last of his soldiers dying breath and heard the roar of cheers coming from the humans as they celebrated their first victory. Some minutes passed and the cheering was over. The humans started to mobilize their defense and artillery, surely towards the Pillar where his boss was located. 'My lord, you don't know what your up against.'

Near the early morning sun, footsteps approached Moorey. He smiled at the thought of his red angle coming to liberate him once and for all.

"Not bad for a beautiful woman in red." He chocked a combination of oil and blood. "Too bad you never felt my manhood."

"I felt it alright," Carmen looked at him from above. Her sword in her hand pointing straight at his metallic heartchip, she was ready to finish him off by herself. "It was a pleasure to have you."

The stabbing of that heart will be portrayed in pictures for eras to come. Flying sparks came out of his chest while Regina stood over him pushing her sword downward. His automatic reflexes moved his nearby parts in jittering motions. He babbled and spitted oil and blood on the snow, but at last a puff of smoke left his lungs, and he never moved again.

The humans had won against THEM, with improbable odds they had made it. The fervor among those that lived was staggering, everyone was willing to go to war now and they demonstrated this to the Regina by mobilizing their army. Ready to go as soon as the first snow melted away, on to the Pillar they will march.

"Take there heads off," Carmen snarled. Everyone was astounded at her barbarian call. "Put them in stackes across our Lair. Let everyone know what HUMANS CAN DO FOR THEIR OWN."

"YYYAAAHHH!" Echoed their cry over a vast space and time, awaking many other clans in distant lands in that early morning of winter.

SCENE 6

"Hum, the sun rays paint a strange mist over that western horizon. Red. It is so interesting." Chief noted looking from his Pillar base. "I can't wait for having that color pave my view." Chief's laugh thundered in his home.

End of Chapter 8

Uff.. that was a hard one to write. It is very strenuous to get things going and going and going. Is the story getting interesting enough? I'd like some feedback. I don't' want this story to be a Too short for plot development or Too long and boring. Write comments


	9. Chapter 9 Calm before the Storm

Uff, live is imposing between hobbies and what to do's. Fear not, I'm still gonna finish this if it doesn't finish me first.

Chapter 9

All through spring they marched towards The Pillar. Moving the huge artillery and the whole encampment with them was a daunting task. It was a bit harsher than what was planned but the entire Ret Lair moved from their location in France to the border of The Pillar.

Some of the terrain was altered from the plans they had drawn on reconnaissance done in fall. Probably changed on purpose by the Metalumans and their desire to stop them, but it didn't' matter, they moved forward by the will and determination of the Regina. The heavy artillery was constructed on durable caterpillar-like wheels for the planned travel, however many changes had to be made to the design along the way.

The crawl of the army was slow but steady, the shifts were brutal but everyone contributed without fuzz. A thirty-six hour shift was implemented and while one third of the militia sleeps, two thirds kept the Ret Lair moving. Food and water was rationed, but everyone was quiet. Their desire of freedom forgave all bodily needs.

Many other legions joined them, many from the south and north came with their own artillery and paid their respects to the Regina. This filled Carmen with amazement, what can a mere human accomplish when the desire of many is the same as hers.

By early summer, the Ret Lair was on the skirt of The Pillar. The humans were in shock by what they were seeing. Such a thing could be possible, many though. Italy was now the giant pillar of rock and soil that trespassed the atmosphere into space. Crackling sounds as oxygen still poured into the upper atmosphere could still be heard.

The military movement of Ret Lair was now a little over a hundred thousand strong, not enough for the hundred of thousands the Metalumans had become. However, they possessed the knowledge of survival at all costs and that was a big advantage. They set the cap just at the foot of the Pillar's rise and prepared for battle.

"If they attack tonight we will be goners, my lady" Moe said panting. "We are exhausted from travel and we will not be able to defend ourselves."

"They won't attack us. He has too much pride to pass into history with the tale of how his creations defeated a band of exhausted humans." Carmen smiled at the pillar. "He wants us strong and willing to fight so he can display his prowess. Set the defense barrier and the artillery in the planned positions, tomorrow we rest."

"Aye, my lady."

"Once we are there, it will all depend on Zack and nothing else." Carmen said to herself watching the stars that apparently collided with the Pillar. "I wonder is this tower is strong enough to hold Mike and me." She started to laugh.

SCENE 2

The barrier was set, the artillery was set, the provisions were set, the fighters were set, the souls were set and the days rolled on. After the initial days that the Metalumans were circulating the Ret Lair at the base of the Pillar, their sightings had minimized. This eased the nerves of the humans, they based their plans on fooling the Metalumans and by the looks of it, it was working. They wanted the Metalumans to surpise attack them, when the Regina proposed this everyone got scared, but after the initial shock they understood. The Ret Lair had established fast and was starting to function as a small city, while internally the plans where unfolding.

Chief was watching this development with curiosity. He didn't' understand why where the humans so used to the site of impending doom. It distressed and disturbed him the thought that the humans could somehow win.

"They are such fools, fools fallowing that stupid woman in red. How can relaxing and playing cards under the sun portray a battalion front?" Chief fumed to his commanders.

"The Ret Lair citizens have started cultivation rapid growth fruits and nuts, sir."

"Argh…. This ends soon." Chief's background screen started to glow red with anger. "Commander Ankston, round up the army, we will attack when they least expect it. We will enter their camp and destroy them inside out."

"As you wish, sir." Ankston smiled at this opportunity to raise in the Chief's eyes.

SCENE 3

"Are the groups already set up and are clear what their mission is?" Carmen asked Jasmine for the 100th time. The Regina had been devising and planning all the movements and positions for each group since they started construction of the barrio the fall before. All that responsibility had started to take a toll on her, and her friends where worried that she might not be able to act correctly during the operation due to exhaustion, so they urged her to take the weeks since they had arrived to rest. But, now, she was back to her bossy self.

"Yes, Regina." Jasmine said making a mocking military sign.

"Lets go over this one last time."

"One last time? I don't' believe that."

"Yes, one last time. Tonight we will set the trap."

Jasmine was taken back by Carmen's comment. It will start tonight; everything they had worked for will start tonight. This gave her goose bumps and she started to feel pressure in her heart. Carmen looked over to Jasmine and noted her blank expression, she wanted to comfort the young woman, but she knew there was nothing to comfort on.

"Spark it up, little girl." Carmen said that with a smile.

Jasmine came out of her trance, and looked over to Carmen. They were all in this together, all for freedom, all for joy.

"Alright, lets do this. Its show time." Jasmine controlled her fears and excitement substituted it.

"Group C?"

"Group C: Main communication group. In charge of communicating and directing the action between the groups A, B, F, M, S and W. Leader: Jasmine. Captains: Nestor and Yeremie. Location: Base Camp Ret Lair. Crew: 20"

"Group B?"

"Group B: Main combat group. In charge of the front brigade of combat, entering the Pillar first and making a pathway for Group A to travel. Leader: Sara. Captains: Ivy and Josha. Location: the Pillar, front battalion. Crew: 180"

"Group A?"

"Group A: The advanced group. In charge of the disposal of mechanical and tactical artillery and making the Package, a.k.a. Zack, arrive secure to the Chief for his disposal. Leader: Regina. Captains: Moe and Lars. Location: the Pillar, high battalion. Crew: 90"

"Group F?"

"Group F: The main fire group. In charge of the firing artillery and aerial anti-combat units that defend the base camp with long range fire. Leader: Paige. Captains: Charlie and Hillary. Location: Base Camp Ret Lair. Crew: 3,000+"

"Group M?"

"Group M: The main material group. In charge of moving, disposing and supplying materials to all the groups in the Base Camp and maintaining the functionality of the equipment in the Base Camp. Leader: Angela. Captains: Bernard and Lucas. Location: Base Camp Ret Lair. Crew: 200.

"Group S?"

"Group S: The main supply group. In charge of supplying Groups B and A with ammunitions and equipment as it is needed, most mobile group capable of high speed delivery in the heat of battle. Leader: Mike. Captains: None. Location: the Pillar, inner circles. Crew: 10"

"Group W?"

"Group W: The main war group. In charge of the land and external combat that defends the base camp. Leader: Hugo. Captains: Rachael, Pedro, Samuel and Walter. Location: Base Camp Ret Lair. Crew: 7,000+"

"That is all we have." Carmen said this with a strange sigh, which scared Jasmine. She sometimes doubted what they were about to do, but looking at the strength and faith of others gave her hopes. This time was one of those times she doubted her own strengths and wished she was back in her Lair, reining the vast plains of what was before France.

"Sounds a bit crazy everything we have done till now, don't you think?" Jasmine asked Carmen with a smile.

Carmen looked at Jasmine and laughed at herself. How can she doubt her own strengths when so many believed in them, they couldn't all be wrong, and that took out every last bit of fear that was left in her. "Crazy would be if I asked for a Piña Colada with Rum, and started smoking a cigar now?

Jasmine and Carmen laughed a little, then stared at the table. It was time, they could feel it.

"Round everyone up, Leader J. It Starts."

"Yes, Leader R."

The Ret Lair prepared for the ending of their story. It all seemed too quiet.

SCENE 4

"There's no movement in the camp below sir. The only ones awake are a dozen of guards that patrol the northern border of the barrier. The south border is open."

"That is strange." Ankston took the binoculars from his Captains hands to look for himself. "They are all sleeping without a care in the world." The infrared images from the camp showed thousands of sleeping bodies in the camp. Many of them sleeping on the open sky, even the Regina could be seen with the red bandana sleeping under the stars.

"Shall we attack from above and finish them all?"

"No, I have a better idea." Ankston chuckled a little. "Lets get all of us inside. Stand near them and then when we are all positioned to kill them, shout. Ha! They will all jump at the same time and we kill them all there. Ha!"

"Ha! Ha! That would be awesome."

The Metalumans descended the Pillar leaving the doors completely open. They gloated about their easy victory over the foolish humans. They entered the camp and quietly walked all over the place. The humans didn't' move, they just made minuscule signs to the others as the Metalumans walked among them. Since it was dark the Metalumans didn't notice that some of the humans erected strange poles in the air as they passed. Each one of the Metalumans got himself a human, Ankston stood over the Regina ready for the killing. When the thousands of Metalhumans surrounded them and the barrier, hundreds of the poles had been erected.

Ankston signaled his men for the shout, however he noticed the Regina's eyes were open. Those eyes startled him and he moved back in shock.

"NOW!" Regina shouted at the top of her lungs. Everyone turned their poles on and the huge electric magnetic pulse vibrated around the base of the pillar. The Metalumans in the camp were killed instantly and those at the lower levels of the Pillar malfunctioned.

As the Metalumans fell to the ground their sound became music to the Regina's ears but became thunder to Chief's ears. He heard the clanking sounds and the vibrations of the EMP all the way to the top of his Pillar. The other Metalumans also felt the vibrations and heard the sounds of their falling comrades and steeled themselves for war as they knew that the humans came prepared.

"What the hell was that?" Chief's frantic voice could be heard over the radios of the fallen Metalumans. "Captain Ankston, answer me. Report."

"Hey old timer." A sweet female voice answered him.

"Who is this?"

"How about a game of Chess for old time's sake?"

Chief was startled for a moment. His henchemen looked stern at their leader and just for a moment they though he seemed scared. Chief knew this day would come sooner or later and he had prepared for it.

"Only if you King me, old friend." Chief cutted the communication, somehow it was painful to hear her voice and to know he was about to kill his friends. He didn't' understand why was he doubting, his files were corrupt. He brushed of the error messages in his system and turned on war signals throughout the Pillar. "Go all out war on them Captain Sains. Bring them back to me nearly alive."

"Nearly alive sir?"

"Torture them, shoot them, cut them, but don't kill them. That pleasure is just for me."

"As you wish my lord." Captain Sains left the office with a smile, he had been waiting this moment for a long time, he loved war. "Get the men; we will annihilate them in the center of the Pillar."

SCENE 5

At the base of the pillar Group M started to work on collecting the Metaluman's parts in order to reuse them. Group C was already giving orders and Groups B and A where already at the door ready to start. Group F was firing at the invading Metalumans and Group W prepared for the ground assault. Group S were ready for their sprints but would go into action until Groups B and A were in need.

There was no time for a speech of victory from the Regina. She was directing and preparing herself for the worse. However, no one needed one, they all came prepared for Victory and Freedon and worked hard and without hesitation nor fear. There was no turning back, even youngsters were working hard delivering food and water to the fighters. No one was left without task, and they considered their tasks as an honor.

Group B started the assault and ran into the open doors of the Pillar. Their work started easy but encountered malfunctioned Metalumans in the lower levels. The EMP weapons and armament were taking its toll on the Metalumans, but not all was good for the humans as some started to fall.

"Lets see if they catch us Zack." Carmen smiled at him. Nothing else was said in a familiar term after that. Zack smiled back and prepared himself for the run.

"Group A! Move about!" Carmen shouted and ran into the Pillar. Mike saw her enter the Pillar and a jolt came to his heart. It didn't' matter what the plans were, if it came to worse he'd get her out of there alive and he didn't' care what nor who he had to sacrifice.

Group A disappeared into the Pillar and started their movement to the upper levels where Group B had cleared. Group S was called for assistance and entered the Pillar half an hour after Group A. Group W was overwhelmed by the ground assault but stayed firm. Group F was helping on the long range but were not so busy with aerial assaults and switched to defense mode instead of attack.

The war had just begun.

End of Chapter 9

Zomg! The ending is near!


	10. Chapter 10 In the Middle of the Hurrican

Just a few more chapters to go! Wow this turned epic without me knowing about it. Now onto the action. Btw. doesn't recognize my scene breaks, anyone know how can I incorporated them in? The story is all grouped together so I'll just write scenes etc.

Chapter 10

Groups W and B had suffered great losses, but were still standing strong. Group S was busy delivering replacements and supplies to group B. The commotion was more than Group C could handle and had to call in more people that were on duties on the battlefield to fill in the holes.

Group B had encountered an easy start at the base of the Pillar but as they moved upwards into the Central Chamber it didn't went as planned. The Metalumans that were at the base had received the EMP impact and had malfunctioned but the ones in Central Chamber were fully functional.

"We have suffered heavy losses and if we continue with this strategy we will be annihilated Ivy." Shouted Josha.

"I know, I know," Ivy pummeled a Metalumans with an EMP mace. "Sarah, how much time you still need to redirect us?"

"Few minutes should do it, I'm calibrating with Group C and S for the final push." Sara shouted in her crouched position near her small still functional laptop.

"Group A is coming in fast, we have to hurry."

"Talk to me Group C, what do the plans say about the west wall?"

"West wall?" Jasmine's voice could be heard over the laptop.

"Yes, there was ventilation tunnels near them, how thick are the walls?"

"The walls are made of reinforced concrete of 12 inches thick, with fiberglass insulation of 8 inches. Could be blasted, I'm sending Group S with explosives, here are the plans, Sara."

"Perfect," Sara examined the plans and prepared a strategy. "Alright, listen up, new plan. Group S will bring explosives and I need three volunteers to place them here and here. I need a group of five to distract the Metalumans and send them near the west wall, while the rest of us divides and assemble in the north and south walls. As the explosion goes off we will charge the EMPs and hit them with magnetic and vibrational waves. That will kill them off and we will be able to let Group A into the east door there. Got it?"

"GOT IT!" Group B responded.

Scene 2

"What a mess." Zack said dodging the fallen Metalumans and humans scattered in the Pillar.

"War is always messy," Carmen said moving a dead human out of the way. "However, this was not going that smoothly as planned."

Group A was moving slowly into the Central Chamber. Their job was to invade the Pillar's Intel system and they had been slowly succeeding. They cut the eyes and ears of the Metalumans from knowing where inside the Pillar they were and this proved beneficial as some Metalumans groups where ambushed without noticed.

However, they surprisingly caught up with Group B and Group S already preparing for the explosion. Groups B and S were surprised when they saw Group A in the south door.

"Shit," Sarah cursed in the air and went directly to the Regina. "We have a vibrational and EMP explosion coming on, as soon as that goes off run to the east door, Regina."

"Yes, hurry there are no more monitoring systems. We are free to roam this place."

Group A settled behind Group S ready for the sprint. Mike threw a glance at Carmen, and Carmen noticed. She blew him a kiss which he caught and threw one of his back.

'If he were near me I would have mounted him.' Carmen though blushing a little.

'If she were near me I would have wrestled and played with her hard.' Mike though with a watery mouth.

"In Five!" Sara shouted. The Metalumans that were fooled into the west wall got surprised. The rest of the humans ducked and pointed their EMP staffs into the air.

FFFFFFIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

BBBOOOOOMMMMMMM

The west wall of the Central Chamber exploded in sharp shards of fiberglass insulation and reinforced concrete. The scraps hitted the Metalumans hard damaging and killing all that were near. The vibrational wave that hit the rest overloaded their systems stopping them in their tracks and the EMP wave killed the rest of the Metalhumans inside the Central Chamber and those that were around it.

As the smoke cleared the humans recovered. The Group Captains gave reports of damages and losses.

"We lost no one in the blast my Regina." Sara reported.

"Good, this was all for Groups B and S. Group A will take over, stand by for help."

"Yes, well clear and keep Group A safe from any Metalhuman that survived that."

Group B started clearing a path to the east door for group A to enter the last stretch to the top of the Pillar. The doors were unlocked and opened by the time Group A made their way there.

BBBBAAAAAAAMMMMMM

Group B members went flying to the other side of the room dead as the doors opened. Metalumans poured inside and started killing them. The east doors and east corridor were protected by lead insulation and all Metalumans inside survived the EMP explosion, even Captain Sains.

The surprised humans took time to recover and fight back. Groups B and S were trying to fend off the Metalumans with their EMP staffs but it wasn't enough. Group A went into action with EMP poles and started clearing some Metalumans.

"You thought that little EMPs will kill me off, Regina?" Captain Sains shouted to her.

"Little you say, you certainly don't' understand that size, in this situations, doesn't matter." Carmen said that with a smirk on her face.

"Oh really, why don't' you take me on by yourself."

"But that wouldn't be fair for you."

"Shut up bitch and fight me!"

Captain Sains and Carmen faced off in the middle of the commotion. Everyone else got their bit of action. Zack and Ivy formed their beloved team fending off Metalumans. Moe and Lars continued their push forward as Sara commanded the groups movement. Mike and Group S just cleared the floor searching for weapons to deliver and use against the Metalumans. He often glanced at Carmen and threw her an excessive amount of EMP poles.

"Ha, what are you gonna do with all those poles my dear, you can't even fight well with them now." Captain Sains taunted the Regina to trigger her anger.

"Fight? Who said anything about fighting with them? They are just for decorations." Carmen said. She had been busy placing the poles in a giant circle around the fighting area and no one noticed. It was interesting to see her fighting and placing the poles in the ground.

"Stop dancing and fight me, whore."

"Such bad words directed to a lady."

The conflict raged on and it looked like the Metalumans where winning this one. Humans were injured faster than the Metalumans malfunctioned. Part of the S group continued bringing reinforcements but it weren't enough. They needed to end this conflict fast if they were to win.

The Regina was having a rough time evading Sains and placing the poles. She was even more amused that she was enjoying it. She had forgotten the feeling of being chased and she was savoring it in every aspect.

She finally placed the last pole and reverted direction straight to Sains. This action caught him offguard and she pummeled him with the EMP. His system was stronger than the rest of the Captains and Metalumans and he was back on his feet fast.

"STOOOOOOOOOP!" Regina shouted so loud that Jasmine in the Base Camp had to take of her earphones.

Everyone stopped, literally everyone. They all heard her shout and stopped what they were doing. Everyone in the Base Camp, in the Central Chamber, even the Metalumans everywhere stopped. Those in the Central Chamber looked at her. She took her baseball cap off and red bandana. Her hair tumbled down her back as she passed her fingers through it straightening it out. She fluffed it and shock her head to untangle some parts of it. Replaced her bandana properly and finally placed her baseball cap on again. She cleaned her clothes and walked to the highest rubble she could find. Stood straight and looked directly to Sians. She struck her original Carmen pose as she extended her hand.

"I just wanted to look hot for this part." Carmen said as she pressed the controller button.

!

All the poles she had placed around the Central Chamber lighted up in unison. A perfect circle halo of EMP energy vibrated and heated the air. The energy was intensified by the perfect positioning of the poles. This time the entire chamber exploded in electrical energy. The dust blast that fallowed could be seen and heard all the way to the base.

As soon as the dust cleared a female voice was heard.

"I'm so pro I didn't even need to move for that blast." The Regina was still standing with her pose. "Lets finish this."

At the Base Camp the humans launched a final attack against the Metalumans and this time they wanted to win. The Metalumans started to feel the effects of their communications and energy systems looses and where falling like flies.

Scene 3

At the Central Chamber, Groups B and S started the recovery process while Group A made their way to the east door from where the Metalumans came from. Part of Group B entered the east door and checked for further Metalumans. Finding none near the premises they went back to the Group formation and let Group A go through.

The movement was slow as Group S now started to remove the injured and recover parts of the Metalumans to recycle. But finally they made it to the door.

"From now on we move alone as one Group A." the Regina said to her group.

"You think you can kill me so easily. I'm the best creation of Chief."

The Regina and everyone looked back and gasped at what they saw. Sains had Ivy under his arm and was about to crush her neck.

"IVY!" Zack ran to her only to be stopped by Regina and pulled back.

"No, Zack. Just go and finish this!" Ivy shouted at her brother with tears in her eyes.

"No, let me go. I will not leave my sister." Zack fought with Moe and Lars that were backing him up to the door.

"I'll go first with Zack into the east corridor. The rest of Group A fallow us after you defeat Sains." The Regina said in a low but strong voice. "Make sure she is alive and well or you will die by my hands and not them."

Her warnings were usually true, specially the death penalty ones as they remembered. She shoved Zack past the door and pulled him to continue, but he resisted.

"Were you going bitch, your fight is with me." Sains shouted at Regina as she was dashing for the door.

"You forgot that I'm the bitch that has been after that whore for her whole life." Ivy said as she shoved half of an EMP pole into his neck joint. Sains let her fall to the ground.

"Aaaahhh! You won't kill me that easily."

Sains dived to her but Mike and Sara threw a rope made of Metalumans cable around his neck. Josha and Moe, threw more of the ropes around Sains enveloping him. But Sains was strong and started ripping the ropes and kept dashing for Ivy as she ran away from him.

"This will not stop me."

As Sains kept fallowing Ivy she picked the broken pieces of EMP poles around the room and slowly but surely stabbin Sains with them as they fought in the chamber. She kept activating the EMPs but Sains continued on fallowing her. They were running out of EMP poles and rope as the fight continued.

The last of the ropes broke sending Mike and Sara to the ground and knocking Josha and Moe out. Lars and the others kept looking for more materials but there were none more.

Sains caught up with Ivy and snatched her from the ground. The only thing left for her defense was a broken EMP pole in her hand and she knew it was not enough to kill him.

"At least I will get to kill one of that retched bitch's friends now." Sains said and started laughing as one of his hands tightened their grip on Ivy's neck and the other went to her head in order to twist it.

"It takes a real man to laugh in the face of danger." Ivy said this smiling. She drove the broken EMP pole into his laughing mouth and shoved it until she felt his spine break. She activated the EMP pole directly into his system.

ZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPP

Sains eyes blacked out, the hand on Ivy's neck loosened and she was free. Sains Metaluman body fell to the ground with a large clank. His body now on the steps of the east door started to beep.

"That ain't good, take cover all." Mike shouted.

Josha ran to Ivy and grabbed her hand and they both dashed for cover. Sains body exploded leaving a whole in the floor and closing the east door. The east door was sealed hermetically shut with no way to enter or get out.

When the dust settled, Group A was cut off from their leader. There was no way they could communicate with Regina as the EMP fights had destroyed their radios by then. A big silence settled in the chamber. The sounds from outside had ceased. Sara over looked the Base Camp and saw the devastation of the war. They had won that battle but now they needed to win the war.

They all knew that now Regina and Zack were all alone in there with no way to help them.

"They will be ok." Mike assured Ivy.

"I know."

Scene 4

"They managed to enter my realm. Ha! I'll have to finish them of myself. How exciting." Chief laughed manically at the monitor that showed Carmen and Zack inside the east corridor.

"Lets see how they like it when they enter the Zone of Death and their oxygen runs out. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

End of Chapter 10

Zomg! That was a hard chapter to write… sigh, and I have a feeling that Chapter 11 is going in the same direction. Hope you enjoyed it.


	11. Chapter 11  Into the Black Blue Wonder

Lets enjoy some of the final moments of this epic fanfic together! I promised it wouldn't be as long as my first one "The Heir to VILE", and I have tried to keep that promise as it is not as complicated as "Heir". Hope you guys keep enjoying the fanfic, sorry it took so long continue it.

Chapter 11

"IVYYY!" Zack shouted with all his might behind the steel doors that separated him from his sister. He banged at the door but nothing happened, not even sound was heard from the massiveness of the door.

"WHAT THE F%#K DO YOU THINK YOU'R DOING?" Carmen tackled Zack to the ground trying to calm him down. "Are you trying to get us killed?" Zack struggled under Carmen's weight but her grip on him was tight.

"My sister is in trouble, what is wrong with you. I need to save her. LET ME GO BITCH!" SLAP! Carmen's hard hand struck Zack straight on his face. Tears swelled into his angry eyes when he dared to face her.

"Who do you think you are?" Carmen's intense blue eyes looked straight into his. "Don't tell me this is all your capable off at a time like this, don't tell me I have wasted MY time and the time of MY people on you." Zack was getting angrier by the moment, but didn't say anything.

"You knew from the start what were the penalties for this mission, she knew too and accepted them, I know them, everyone know them, and we don't cry because we understood them. We move forward, we moved all through the night just for this." Zack started to struggle now to get himself freed from Carmen's grip. "OR DID YOU LOOSE YOUR TRUST AND FAITH ON YOUR SISTER?" Zack stopped struggling under Carmen, and his eyes weren't angry anymore.

"She never stopped trusting you and has complete faith in you, that is why she is in the trouble she is, can't you respect that?" Zack was completely shocked by this; his arms relaxed and went straight to the ground.

It's true, he knew the risks involved, he knew the dangers, the possibilities, the reasons, the logistics, but now he started to understand them and it scarred him. 'I'm afraid Ivy.' He was afraid of loosing his sister more than he was afraid of loosing his life. 'I feel the same way Zack.' He heard his sister's voice inside his head just for a moment and realized it made them stronger. How could he dare stop for her when his sister hadn't stopped for him? She needed him to believe in her as she believed in him.

Some minutes had passed by and Carmen was getting anxious to get Zack moving, but knew better than to force a rookie into a specialized battle like this. She had released some of the tension on her grip and just worried about how much longer would Zack be out like this. She didn't had to wait that long. When she looked back at his eyes, they had changed. They looked like eyes that belong to a true man.

"I'm sorry for calling you that." Zack apologized; he took Carmen's hand and kissed it. "I just needed to be reminded that I'm not doing this alone one last time. Thank you." Carmen helped the man up but couldn't contain herself and hugged him; Zack was surprised too, as he hugged her as he had never hugged anyone before.

"Alright, let's see if you have trained well." Carmen said after a few moments and straightening herself up. "Chief has light and heat sensors all the way to his room. He has cameras and microphones and lasers guarding the pathway by now. If we so much as trigger one of those he will cut the oxygen in that area and we will surely die."

Zack made a mocking face and then laughed. He indeed had trained to move like a thief and improvise like one in this kind of situation. Carmen was the master at breaking into secured places and she devised the plan and directed it. They both prepared with some essentials, communication piece, an EMP pole, gloves and special goggles. The rest were in their minds, body and souls.

"Lets make our way in, comrade." Carmen smiled at Zack and prepared herself to vanish inside the corridor.

"It'll be an honor to watch you work." Zack signaled Carmen he was ready. She smiled and lost her way into the shadows.

Scene 2

"Are they ok, Jasmine?" Ivy frantically called over the near dead radio communication device they still had.

"Yes, but I can't communicate with them. I only know they are talking to each other as I see the light on their speakers light up." Jasmine's broken voice came above all the static. "The best I can do is track their signal and know where inside the Pillar they are.

"That will do." Ivy's had fell to her side as the radio turned off.

"Calm down, girl. They will be fine, trust in them both." Mike put a hand on her shoulder. "Remember Zack has trained for this moment, he won't let you down, besides Carmen is there what more insurance could you need." This eased Ivy's thoughts a little. "And if things go wrong, I made an extra plan. Care to join me?" Mike winked at her.

Ivy's spirit lifted up. 'Mike is incredible Carmen. Zack, my brother Zack, I'm so proud to know that you continued on without me. Thank you.'

Scene 3

"Where are they?" Chief frantically checked and rechecked every monitor and sensor he had.

"They couldn't have vanished in thin air. They can't win this."

There was no movement in the corridor, or the platforms or the stairs. No heat or wind was felt in the sensors. No sound was made inside his lair.

"I can't cut the entire lair of oxygen, my circuits would create too much static and I won't be able to handle it."

Chief kept checking and checking but nothing. Suddenly he felt a slight error message in his systems, which if he were human would send a chill down the spine. He discarded the error message and returned to his duties.

The error message read: Invasion of memory sectors F-3, D-3, B-1, A-1, and C-E. "Please stop the corrupt files, they are my friends. I won't let you win."

Scene 4

"This is kind of fun." Zack whispered into his communication device to Carmen. He had a bit more difficulties than he expected trying to emulate Carmen's moves and enabling and disabling the security measures of the Pillar. "No wonder you like this work."

"Hey, don't tell me you like my side of the lines." Carmen answered mockingly. She was well ahead of him, as one would expect. She didn't portray it but was terribly enjoying herself tonight. She hadn't been on a thieving act in so long that she missed the adrenaline, the excitement, the audacity of it all. "Remember, we get the laughts first as all criminals do, but you guys get the last laugh."

"Oh, really and what do you prefer?"

"I get bored easily, so bring me the laughter.'

"And the most secret of secrets is revealed today. Why Carmen became a thief!"

"Among other reasons." They both smiled but continued into their work.

Carmen moved cleanly through the shadows as she fooled the security systems as she had done countless of times. Zack, was doing the same, with a bit of chunkiness to it, but was advancing too. The floor was rigged in some places with pressure sensors; there were lasers on the walls and pillars and heat and audio sensors on the baseline of the walls. Cameras panned the floors and corridors in every direction at certain intervals. Carmen and Zack used the intervals on the systems to move along.

It was harder than Zack expected, but he kept moving on. He had found a courage that had never been in him. Everyone counted on him, on his abilities. People everywhere had sacrificed their lives for him. He owed a great dept to many and now he moved along with confidence, with certainty and with pride to his destiny.

'I'm sorry Chief, I have life on my shoulders and I will not hold back the moment we meet.' It was a sad thought that had been ringing inside his head for some time now. He had said that he would try and rescue Chief, but now, he was thinking that its best to let it be.

Both thieves moved on to the last chamber.

Scene 4

"Well, that is about it. Now to wait." Mike said sitting down on the ledge, a harness wrapped around him.

"Will this really be enough?" Ivy inspected the rope and catapult device she had helped Mike install in that ledge just below the Central Chamber. She was excited with the hope of seeing Zack and Carmen in the end, and forget this was a suicide mission.

"Of course, just you wait. I'm good at rescuing damsels in distress."

Scene 5

"This is it, the last door to his chamber." Carmen said, with a bit of sadness in her voice. "Chief is beyond this doors."

"It's for all of us, right? We are doing this for all of us." Zack said looking at her on the other side of the corridor they were.

"Yes." She steeled herself for the mission. She was too old to have doubts now. She was the great Carmen Sandiego, the Regina after all, who else but her was the best. 'Uff, my thoughts are so hot for me I could just love me forever.' She smiled at that thought.

"Alright. We have 6 seconds between system tracks to prepare the device, and enter free of Chiefs attacks."

"Your basically saying we have to mount the electrical system interruptor, the pressure sensing interruptor, the heat sink, the audio muffler, the movement and visual blocker, the explosive, the connectors, the switch, the chronometer and protection device all in 6 second intervals?"

"Yes," she said this with a calming voice taking out the utensils. "Just like we practiced."

"Your enjoying this aren't you?"

"I'm loving it, if it were a hot guy I'd be sexing him." She winked at him.

"Hold it, I ain't Mike."

Scene 6

Zack never knew that seconds were that long. The device was taking shape 6 seconds at a time. They switched places often; Carmen installed or connected something and then rolled to Zack's side and vice versa.

"Whoever coined the phrase, seconds last for hours, really didn't had this in mind." Zack said as he tried for the 3rd time to make the controller connection.

"Concentrate, it's the last connection."

"I know but I need more than 6 seconds for this connection. 1 second get here, 2 grab the wires, 3 entwine the wires, 4 secure the wires in one hand, 5 take pinchers out of mouth, and bam 6 is get out of there. I need 6 to secure the wires if not they fall apart and I don't' have that extra second. I'm trembling too much."

"I'll be your hands. We roll at the same time, I'll grab the wires you twist and secure them and the push each other away." Improvising was Carmen's forte.

"Ok, on 3, 2, 1, go"

They both rolled infront of the door. Carmen grabbed the wires and Zack twisted them and secured them. A small light was triggered in the chronometer and they both pushed each other to the other side.

It was done.

"It's finished." Zack said panting his adrenaline down.

"Yup"

"Only one way to go now."

"The only way I know. Would you like to do the honors?" Carmen said with the trigger on her hand.

"No, my honor is with Chief. Your honor is breaking in."

"It's amazing how cool I look with a trigger on my hand. No nasty thought there Zack."

"Sorry Carmen, but you have taught me too much for them not be in my mind already."

They both smiled and Carmen signaled him the countdown.

BAM!

The door was unlocked; the security system was compromised and malfunctioned. The door opened with a cracking noise as its alarms went off.

Scene 7

"Impossible!" Chief exclaimed as he heard the explotion.

Carmen and Zack didn't wait for the dust nor for the electrical charges to wear off to enter. They did so just as the door opened and then concentrated on learning their surroundings.

"Security breach, close off all door with emergency shutters." Chief exclaimed at the top of the alarm screams and the breached door was closed with an emergency door. The dust settled fast as Chief's emergency systems and fans worked to their max to decontaminate the chamber.

"How could they breach it? The sensors in the door didn't reflect anything, what is with this system? We are better than simple humans!"

"You think?" A female voice was heard. Chief turned around and came face to face with his most dreaded foe.

"Carmen." Chief said as an error message popped in his system. Error message: Carmen, old gal. He defragmented that error message and continued to calculate his options.

"Hey, what am I invisible? I need some awe moment fallowing my name." Zack said with a smirk.

"Zack" Chief frowned at him. Zack was here only to kill him, and he knew it.

"So you two came to dethrone me. How pathetic of you. Since you were able to surpass all my systems, no doubt with the countless expertise hours you filthy, sultry, whory thief have under your belt that the job of killing you will be at my hands."

"Lets see you try." Zack taunted. "Show us your hands."

The roof opened in sections and then the tiles disappeared. Above it was a mechanism that rotated and moved all along the room. It had a pair of mechanical arms attached to it.

"My next lesson for you Zack, is to keep your mouth shut." Carmen said as she started to improvise a new plan as that machine wasn't in any of the original plans.

End of Chapter 11

Zomg! The end is near! Left you in the edge of your seats right?


	12. Chapter 12 The Shattering

Thanks all for being followers of this epic fic. Should have been longer and more detailed, but guess it was concise and to the point. (We all would have wanted a private scene with Carmen and Mike, admit it). Hope you guys have enjoyed this voyage through my world. I'll be working on another fic soon and so keep your reading minds ready. I suck at writing action scenes. It's the longest chapter yet. Now, on to the story.

Chapter 12

"So, giant arms of sudden death." Zack said admiring the engineering. "and here I thought things would be easy after we got inside of this." He shrugged. "I need another one of your speeches Carmen, cause I just entered my I-don't-care-zone."

"Shut up, I'm thinking as hard as I can." Carmen whispered into the communication device. This was new to her and she certainly was feeling the adrenaline reach its peak in her body. Nothing in the plans and intel contained this information and it was crucial for the completion of the task. Minutes passed like hours, but in the mean time Zack was entertaining Chief. He had noticed Carmen's black out and though he could be useful to her at least once.

"You were saying dear Zack." Chief taunted Zack with his arms. "Aren't they a beauty?"

"Oh yes, I'll never need help scratching my back with a pair of those."

"Imbecile, this are sophisticated automated arms, they are made for combat."

"Woah, calm down old man, I haven't insulted you yet."

Chief slammed his arms near Zack making him fall and roll to avoid it. That action put Carmen's mind on track. 'This can't be that easy? Just like Chess? Guess Chief can't forget somethings.' She thought.

"To beat those we need to know what they are capable of." Carmen whispered.

"You mean we have to fight him a bit and see what kills us and what doesn't?" Zack answered.

"Yes, then we will find what it can't do and destroy it." Carmen jumped behind the western controls and started running to the front of the room. "Move it, NOW! What your waiting for."

"Wait, I'm new at this, I still can't read our mind." Zack jumped to the lower platform in the front of the lab.

"Ha, and you never will." Carmen taunted with a smile.

"You think you can trick me? You got another thing coming." Chief threw one of his arms at Carmen.

Carmen had to jump higher than she had ever jumped. She landed rough to the side and veered southward away from where Zack was running. Zack really didn't understand, so he did what he was good at, running and evading. He copied Carmen's moves in everyway except he did it in the opposite direction. They both kept evading and defending against Chief's attacks, but they never attacked themselves. Zack was getting a bit irritated at Carmen, 'Why doesn't she attack?' he thought.

At last she saw and understood it. She had analyzed every move and countermove the mechanical arms had done. She was now ready to start the attack. The arms could move in opposite directions but only to 180 degrees, then one of the arms had to move in the other direction in order to do a 360. They moved in a 90 degree angle vertically, meaning they couldn't get anything just below them when they were at 180 degrees apart. These little limitations proved gold to Carmen and she came up with a plan.

"Zack, I have a plan"

"Good, cause I'm getting tired of being handled. Hehe, get it?"

"Yes… I get it. Now knock it off and listen." Carmen explained the plan, with little detail, but surprisingly it was enough info for Zack. "Lastly… if I fall behind, please leave me behind."

"What? I could never do that, not now."

"Zack, trust me, I know what I'm getting into and I know how to get out. Just keep going without me." She looked at him stirringly from the other side of the room. Zack was frozen in place and didn't let emotions show.

"I gotta hand it to you Chief," Carmen said standing before him. This surprised Chief, how could she have been hiding so close to him without him noticing it. "You were actually better when you were good. This evil thing doesn't suit your systems well."

"Ha, don't tell me about good and evil. You were even better as a detective than as a thief. How dare you compare your measly human decisions with my computer programming? I once cried over your death, now I'll preserve your head for the rest of my existence at the top of my balcony in plain site. It'll rot and when only the bones are left I'll place it on a stand and let nature erode them till only your dust is blown through the land."

"How romantic, enough of this bullshit. You want me, try and catch me." Carmen sprang into action fallowed a few minutes by Zack.

The plan was easy. All of Carmen's plans where easy, it was how they could be done that where complicated. Ironic, Zack though. Near all of it relied on Carmen, he only needed to help out a bit and then get to work on Chief's system.

Carmen ran to the north and Zack to the south, the arms reached out to them but clanked at their peak. They had just one chance at this. Zack used his EMP pole to try and sting the arm and immobilize it for a min while Carmen pulled the other one out of the way. The EMP did its job fine and Zack was free to roll down and start on the dismantlement of Chief's software systems.

Carmen tightened a rope around the movable arm and made it swung around to the immobilized one. Back and forth she went until the immobilizing effect was over and the other arm started to move. The arms got tangled in the mess of EMP ropes and their electric systems malfunctioned a little.

"Ha, that silly trick won't work on me." Chief tried with all its might to break free, but the EMP's were disrupting his functions, the ropes worked like an antenna and their energy was incremented by it.

"Zack!"

"Working on it!"

At that point Chief remembered Zack. Zack was already invading his system, deleting corrupted files and creating new ones within his programming. His holographic image wouldn't stop him, he needed to get rid of Carmen and Zack would soon fallow suit.

"He won't be able to delete me in time to save you."

He freed his arm and went straight for Carmen. She already knew the outcome and she was prepared for his assault. She waited patiently for the arms to reach her. They were about to strike her when she pulled one her EMP poles perpendicularly to her body. It penetrated the mechanical arm till it reached Carmen's hand at that point Chief slammed Carmen hard against the wall, knocking her out.

"CARMEN!" Zack forgot his mission and lifted his hands off the keyboard. He started to run towards her but remembered what she told him. 'Leave me behind.' He steeled himself and went back to work faster than ever.

"Ha! Worthless bitch. I'll have your body swinging in the breeze in no time. Lucky for you no birds fly this high, so your eyes will still be intact day after day after day, looking emptily at the horizon." Chief turned to Zack. "And you are still at it? You have changed from your early pathetic days as a detective. Is it that thievery makes you gutless? Any how, you will keep her company. I'll watch as your dead body drains of blood and fluids over my balcony." Chief's movable arm went to him when he felt a zap of electricity flowing through the arm Carmen had damaged.

"I never… let you win… at Chess!" Carmen immobilized completely Chief's left arm.

"No, it can't be. I slammed her against that wall." Chief threw his right arm in Carmen's direction. She did exactly the same thing, EMP pole perpendicular and get slammed to the wall. This time, however she was conscious.

"Check Mate." Carmen switched on both poles and they created an arc of electro magnetic pulse inside the mechanical arms. The mechanism at the ceiling exploded and started to burn.

"NO, NO!" Chief abandoned the use of the arms and materialized a laser from his holographic energy. It was his last barrier of defense; use his own holographic energy to induce a high voltage laser that killed humans.

ZAP! The energy made a hole in the wall where Carmen was. She continued to avoid objects and Chief's laser. Zack heard Carmen's commotion and continued to work. Flying debris from the laser kept hitting him hard on his back but he continued. He checked system by system, deleted files, created files, changed files addresses, codes in seconds.

He couldn't loose, now not at this far end of the journey. Chief's system error defense protocols weren't helping either. Impending the opening of codes and files over and over, but Zack wasn't just a techie, he was the master of the system. He remembered his training on the Chief's AI systems from his academy days and ever since that day Zack had updated and reprogrammed the system. He knew the hidden passwords that not even Chief was allowed to know the shortcuts and dump files.

Typing and typing, he continued until he could insert the decompression bomb disk. He inserted the disk and implemented the program into it. Sara was an amazing code writer and this decom was truly a masterpiece. The moment he inserted the disk he knew he wouldn't be saving Chief, it was not possible without a trace of the old programming code and the decom would destroy it.

He emptied the disk and started the timer. Typing code after code to get all the systems down at once, and finally the decom went off. In the last few seconds he discovered a file in one of the dump files and explored it. Uncorrupted files, he kept exploring the last of Chief's secrets, because as strange as it still seemed, he had hope.

"ZACK!" Carmen shouted to able to hold off much longer. The arms exploded with the accumulated vapor. Carmen was thrown off to the side, but she managed to get up and run to Zack. It was over. It had to be done now.

And then he saw it, a system error. System Error: Friends. Zack knew, he knew he had to get the disk out, he couldn't leave it there to be destroyed. In just a few seconds the arm mechanism came tumbling down upon them and Chiefs last energy barrier got ready to zap them with volts of electricity.

"You guys are finished!" Chief screamed as he pointed the laser to Carmen. Zack wrote the commands faster than he had ever had. He felt Carmen's grip on his right arm as he pressed the enter key. The disk flew out and Zack grabbed it.

At that moment a bolt of electricity jumped from the Hard Drive and zapped the track mechanism of Chief's mobile station. His screen started to break apart and the massive computers started to fume. Fire engulfed the high part and the arm mechanism finally gave in and crashed on the floor almost killing them. The entire floor was rigged with circuits that fumed, exploded, melted and caught fire.

The top part of the Pillar imploded with Zack and Carmen inside. The roar of the explosion was hear for miles away and the shock wave of the blast was felt at the base of the Pillar. The people in the Ret Camp where thrown to the ground by its power. They all watched as the Pillar lost its high pinnacle. There was no escape.

SCENE 2

The room broke into tiny pieces and started to fall into the internal abyss of the Pillar. Zack felt as his feet were held by noting and he too started to fall. A disk that held his friend in his left hand, on the other, the hand of his family. Carmen slipped past the beams that held the floor and looked up at Zack, he was falling just beside her. 'This looks like a good thing to see before we die.' They both thought this. They were together, everyone else was safe, and that is what matters.

Zack pulled Carmen up and they both held each other close as they fell down at increasing speed. They both were looking straight ahead, neither dared to look up nor down. They wanted to die with their heads up high. A thief and a cop, case closed.

Carmen dared to close her eyes and Zack noticed it. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and she smiled and ruffled his hair. She was concentrating in trying to hear anything other than the rumbling of concrete and metal that was falling beside them. She still believed, she still knew she could get out of this, could get them both out of this. There was something that would, she knew it; she had planned and set in motion so many things in her life, she often forgot when, where and what she had implemented in the first place.

Zack wasn't afraid anymore, he was happy. He had finished and saved everyone. He didn't let anyone down, he was a hero. He was looking happily at the horizon stills from the windows as they both speeded down when he felt Carmen tighten her grip on him. He was baffled but he did what the master thief though him, fallowed suit on her trail, like always and tighten his grip on her too. As he was doing this he felt another set of arms tightening around him. He didn't get scared, he was letting things go with the tide.

He felt his fall slow a bit and then a yank that left him breathless. His body swung backwards and as if in slow motion, all the concrete passed him by. Bits and pieces hit them both but not the huge chucks that kept crashing and tumbling down. His body hit the wall hard, but not enough to let go of Carmen or feel that much pain.

He saw as the floor bits disappeared below him and wondered what in the world had happened. Unknowingly he though of Carmen and when he looked at her she was smiling.

"Well Zack, you aren't really my type, but this one here is the kind of fallen angel I love." Mike's voice came out from behind Carmen's hair and his face showed up later as he planted kiss on Carmen's ear that made her laugh a bit.

"Yeah Zack, when are you going to be responsible enough to save yourself from the messes you get into." Ivy's voice came behind him. As he turned his head around he found out that it was his sister's hands he was being held in. He let go on of the hands that was holding on to Carmen and placed them on his sister's head, he wanted this to be real, and it was. Tears started flowing in his eyes as well as in Ivy's.

"Sigh, and I though this tower could held both of us together Mike." Carmen said looking upwards to the open space.

"We are just to awesome together."

"Get a room." Zack said finally laughing and screaming Victory inside the Pillar.

EPILOGUE

Fife years had passed since the Fall of the Pillar, as the war was named after. The human groups that had joined for the war had reestablished and formed farms and rebuild cities. Some had gone to populate, live and tell the tales of the war to the four corners of the world.

In the Italian/French border, the new castle had been erected at the base of the Pillar. The Regina Carmen and the King Mike, ruled the lands there and provided structure and governed the people. It was time for humans to regain their lives and start forming the social structures and rules that made their society great.

Zack and Tatyanna had married on the end of the war celebration. They had volunteered to drive an expedition to the ocean and back securing people's travel to those places. Ivy and Joshua did the same to the people to the east. They all promised to come back in two years and live their lives together in the Regina's lair.

Zack and Tatyanna were received with flower petals and music as they strolled up the castle road. They were happy together bringing news that all Metalhumans were defeated.

They entered the inner castle courtyard that had been decorated with red and yellow flags, very Carmen-like. A celebration was well underway as people were building stages and putting food to cook on big iron grills.

"This is going to be great, from now on we will live with our family." Zack said as he helped Tatyanna off the horse.

"Yes, we are." Tayanna kissed him passionately.

"UNCLE!" the voice pertained to a little boy that was trying to run to him. He stumbled a bit here and there and fell a couple of times but he continued until he reached Zack and hugged his legs.

"Do I know you little guy?"

"What a mean thing to say Zack." Ivy was standing in front of him and gave him a hug.

"Woa," Zack looked from the boy with reddish hair to Ivy and back. "Hahaha, I'm an uncle. This is my nephew? Awesome!" Zack picked up his nephew and gave him a twirls and danced with him. The boy was happy in Zack's arms and screamed with delight. Josha came to the courtyard and saluted Zack. Zack gave him a friendly punch in the arm and both men started to talk and play with the boy.

"Congratulations, so many things to tell." Tatyanna hugged Ivy. "We didn't knew, why didn't' you send a message, we could have come sooner.'

"Nonesense, you two must have had a good time around the world."

"Oh, yes we did" They both laughed when they heard a little girl scream and laugh. She came running out of the front door of the castle to the courtyard with a pair of cookies in her hands. She went running towards Ivy and hide behind her legs. Tatyanna and Ivy both looked at the door when Carmen appeared. She was dressed in a more normal manner than the dirty clothes she had been wearing, in fact everyone didn't wore dirty clothes anymore.

"Where is that little thief?" She looked around when she spotted Zack and Tatyanna. Her anger disappeared and she went to greet them.

They greeted and congratulated each other. Zack and Tatyanna started to talk about their voyage and Ivy, Josha and Carmen about how was life in the new Regina City. They all continued to talk until they heard small laughter beside them.

Carmen crossed her hands and looked at her daughter Lina. Carmen couldn't believe she had been outsmarted by her and smiled a bit. She tapped her feet and looked with a calm face towards Lina. (if you don't' get this reference your not a true fan, rofl)

Lina had given one of her cookies to Charlie (yet again another reference) and they were both munching happily at them. Lina noticed her mother looking at her and hid her cookie on her back, Charlie noticed this but he gobbled up his cookie and faced Carmen with a full mouth.

"She looks exactly like you, doesn't she?" Mike appeared beside Carmen.

"I can't believe you tough her how to open up the device." Carmen said.

"I can't believe you tough her how to dodge people. Now we are both in the wrong."

They all laughed and Carmen hugged her daughter, there was really nothing she could do at this point.

"Looks like you guys have been busy while we were gone." Zack said. "But enough of that, anything has happened with him?"

Ivy, Josha, Mike and Carmen all looked at each other. Scratched their heads and then smiled back at both of them. Zack and Tatyanna got scared for a moment, but then they hear it.

"What, only five dozen sugar free buns? Are you trying to starve people? Hey, hey, you over there that flag is one inch too low, move it up. Oh, no, horses to the back. Jeez people, I can't be everywhere." Chief's lovable voice was heard in the other side of the courtyard. Chief's pink screen came around the corner and he spotted Zack and Tatyanna. Chief froze in his travel and looked deeply at both of them.

"Sara maybe a crack head, but she is wonderful when I'm storming her place." Carmen said in Zack's ears.

Zack started to walk towards Chief, while Chief started to cry electronic ears of joy.

"It's so good to see you old pal." Zack said to his pink screened old boss.

"Thank you for being my friend." Chief said while smiling.

Tonight was a night of just pure celebration. They all enjoyed life and lived every moment of their experiences for the rest of their lives. Proving once more that living it all night, don't stopping was worth it.

The End.

Hope you have liked it. It was a very hard ending to write. =D


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